One Big Party!
by LadyAdarah
Summary: Spock/Uhura. Chapter 17 now up! Ignore the rubbish title, this is a comedy that turns into action and then into relationship drama. Hope you enjoy :
1. Chapter 1

_Author's notes: _

_Mwuahhaha! I'm going to have a lot of very, very geeky and evil fun! You are all warned! I've watched lots of trek and will put my knowledge to good use!_

_I based a lot of this on how my university system works in terms of graduates continuing to work for the uni and grading and demonstrating undergrads. I cannot imagine Spock, if he were a full professor, getting involved with an undergrad, that would just be wrong... but PhD students and postdocs at my uni constantly go out with undergrads and it's no problem, even if they are marking their work. All very common and legit. _

_My uni's also a perfect model as it's an all science uni, hehe._

_Oh, and of course I own nothing. Spock and Star Trek TOS & XI movie etc are Paramount's (Or whatever it is I'm meant to say here). This is all just about me having some evil fun with their characters!_

_And again: geek alert! ;-)_

* * *

**One Big Party!**

**Chapter 1: Tedious lab work**

"You must shield your equipment from all external noise, cadet Uhura. I suggest you adjust your experiment accordingly and start again," said Spock pointing out some large spikes in her readout, which Uhura swore had not been quite such a common feature in the previous few days' readings she had taken.

"I have adjusted for subspace interference as well as magnetic...," Uhura stopped as realisation dawned on her. She looked up at her Vulcan laboratory demonstrator and said: "I haven't compensated for the shot-noise interference from the Z-pinch, have I? And there is a lab demonstration for the 'Fusion Physics' class today, isn't there? They've turned on the Z-pinch device and that has messed up my data."

"Correct," he answered.

Uhura waited until he was out of earshot until she let out the long sigh she had been suppressing. She buried her head in her hands. It was going to be a long day in lab.

After about a minute, she shook her head. No point in wasting time, she thought. Better get to work on that missing shielding straight away.

"Hey, what's up? What fault has he found with your experiment?"

Uhura looked up, "Oh, hello, Tim! Sorry, you took me by surprise. I was busy taking apart my subspace signal amplifier."

She sighed again, rather theatrically this time, and then answered, "I forgot to shield my device from shot-noise. Anyway, how's your project going?"

Tim laughed, "Ah, not much better! My experiment is completely, and I mean, completely shielded from all noise! Well, sadly that also means I can no longer get at it either and the demonstrator says I have to re-tune my subspace receiver. Oh well, what can you do? He's found faults with everyone's project."

"Really? That does make me feel slightly better about my own error. At least we will all have wasted an equal amount of time. Do you think we'll all get an extension?" Uhura asked.

"Uhura? You realise our demonstrator is lieutenant commander Spock? He won't have pity with us. Damn, I so wish I was in the other lab group," Tim answered.

"Yeah, the work the other lab group are doing is about ten times easier I reckon. But also a hundred times more boring from what I gather," she said while starting to unscrew the casing around her signal amplifier.

"Pffff... I'd rather have easy, boring work and a good grade. Anyway, I was saying... the other group's demonstrator is part of Professor Pickoring's research group. They're all really relaxed I tell you. After lab, they all go for a drink or two down at the bar with their demonstrator and the rest of Pickoring's researchers. Can you imagine Spock drinking a pint with us down at the bar?" Tim said.

This made Uhura laugh loudly.

"Exactly," Tim said and pretended to pull out his hair in a dramatic gesture.

"Still," he continued, "I'm being serious. We're really missing out. The other group might end up knowing less communication physics, but in the end, they are the ones who'll know their superiors personally. They're making a lot of good connections within the academy."

Uhura frowned. Tim was right of course, they were missing out in that respect. On the other hand she could not recall ever having had a more capable lab demonstrator. Xenolinguistics was one of the most demanding courses at the academy if taken seriously. Not only did the cadets have to be proficient in many different alien languages, they also had to know all the Physics relating to subspace communication and many computing techniques for the analysis of the signals.

Most lab demonstrators didn't have a clue about the physics they were teaching, having relied purely on their linguistic skills to pass the undergraduate courses. She had also seen them grading cadets' lab reports at the bar whilst clearly drunk. Reports she and her fellow cadets had spent days writing! No, she was very glad to have Spock as her demonstrator. He had a broad scientific background, and had specialised in astrophysics. He had only joined the Xenolinguistics department recently on a inter-departmental research project.

"Tim, you know, I am nearly frustrated enough with this project to agree with you... but only 'nearly'. Do you remember all that time we spent on the previous lab report only to have that jerk skim read it and give us all some sort of average grade and no real feedback? Besides, once we are in space, our technical skills might be just as important as our linguistic skills," she said finally.

"Yeah, but that all seems such a long way off," Tim answered, dismissing her arguments with a sweeping hand gesture. "For now I'll just wish the Vulcan version of the plague on him."

"Well, let's wait and see what grades we get on all this before you seriously start thinking about a career in bio-terrorism," Uhura said, chuckling.

"So, how about a drink after labs?" Tim asked, "Some of the others are also up for it."

"When have I ever not been up for a drink after class?" she replied. "Tell you what, though, if you can persuade the lieutenant commander to come with us, I'll invite my roommate along too. And don't look at me like that, this is a small department and gossip travels faster than the speed of light. Come on, I dare you! And I promise... "

"Dare me to do what? Kidnap our demonstrator? Cause that's about the only way I can think of getting that stoic Vulcan down to the bar," Tim interrupted her.

Uhura was impressed. He'd only blushed ever so slightly when she had started to talk about her green-skinned room mate and he had recovered very quickly. Admittedly, only by stopping her from talking about her some more.

"On the other hand," and now Tim had to interrupt himself because he was laughing so hard, "he's probably never had a single drop of alcohol in all his logical life, so just one drink should get him absolutely wasted. Oh, it would be so hilarious!"

* * *

Three hours later and Uhura was just completing the final calibrations after installing the new noise shield when Tim showed up again. He had a big grin on his face.

"You are not going to believe it," he whispered.

"What is? You seem very excited! Tell me!" she said already grinning. She didn't have a clue what he was going to tell her, but Tim's good moods and his excitement was always incredibly infectious.

"He said 'yes'. Can you believe it? Oh, I am going to get him so drunk! Spock is going to have the worst hangover ever tomorrow, this will be A W E S O M E!" Tim said, underscoring his excitement with appropriate hand gestures.

"See you and Gaila down at the bar in one hour!" Tim said, already rushing off again, leaving Uhura alone with her project work.

Who'd have thought it? All they had to do was ask him, she mused. Then again, she estimated that he was only about three years older than themselves. All the other researchers his age went out drinking and socialised. The air of competence and calmness that he exuded set him apart from his peers though, and also made him appear as if he occupied a totally different social sphere – one filled with old, grumpy professors. That thought made Uhura laugh. It also made her realise how wrong they had probably been about their demonstrator. He was Vulcan, that was all. As a species they were simply very calm and logical. The thought of him spending all his spare time with the likes of grumpy old gits like Professor Hartree, a man who cared more about Quantum Physics than he did about his own wife, was actually hilarious in its absurdity.

* * *

_to be continued: next scene, a bar! :-D_

_Reviews very much appreciated of course! _


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's notes:_

_Based on my experiences working at a student bar for 3 years!_

__

Oh, and of course I own nothing. Spock and Star Trek TOS & XI movie etc are Paramount's (Or whatever it is I'm meant to say here). This is all just about me having some evil fun with their characters!

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Yard**

"Oh, have you ever tried a Cuba Libre?" Tim asked his Vulcan demonstrator.

"No, I can't say that I have," Spock answered.

"Well, it's an amazing cocktail classic, I really insist that you try one. Hey, Mike," he called out to a curly haired man who stood behind the bar.

"Two Cuba Libre's please! And make those Cuba Libre 'Venoms', if you know what I mean. Oh, and go easy on the mixer. Actually, make that a double venom!" Tim said grinning from ear to ear.

Uhura watched the bartender Mike prepare the Cuba Libres. Right at the end he added a double shot of vodka to each. That must taste absolutely foul, she thought.

"Hey, what's up?" someone whispered into her ear.

"Hey Gaila! How are you?" Uhura answered.

"Hey, quick girly chat outside?" Gaila asked.

"Sure," Uhura agreed and followed Gaila out of the bar.

Once they had stepped through one of the bar's large double doors onto the patio outside Gaila started talking, "Oh, Tim is so funny, isn't he? Are you sure he fancies me? What did he say, tell me everything!"

"Come on, Gaila, you know as well as I do that he's smitten with you. He was blushing earlier in lab when I mentioned your name, though, if that's what you want to hear. I'm sure he'll spend all of tonight trying to impress you," Uhura said.

Gaila beamed. Then she suddenly became more serious and asked, "Are you ok?"

"What? Sorry, I was just thinking. Why do you ask?" Uhura replied.

"Oh, I don't know, the look on your face I suppose," Gaila said.

Uhura raised a questioning eyebrow, so Gaila elaborated, "Well, it just looked as if you disapproved of something. You don't think Tim will just spend the entire time getting that Vulcan, what's his name again, drunk and ignore me? You know I'll be disappointed if you've set me up with some loser!"

"The Vulcan's name is Spock, he's our lab demonstrator. So Tim's aim this evening is to get him wasted. And get with you of course!" Uhura added quickly.

"Ah! And you disapprove of Tim getting him drunk!" Gaila exclaimed.

Now Uhura laughed loudly.

"No, Gaila, not at all," she said.

"Something about it is bothering you, though, I can tell," Gaila pressed on.

"I don't know... you're probably right. I'm not sure. He's the best lab demonstrator I've ever had. He actually knows the material he's teaching us. I know, how often does that happen? So, yeah, he's very smart – and – well, no one goes through their academy years without picking up at least some survival skills. But our demonstrator's currently not demonstrating many of those. He's letting Tim mock him. Tim'll have him wasted in no time," she said.

"Sounds like Tim's just having fun. How many demonstrators do you know, who hang out with cadets, who don't drink vast quantities with us?" Gaila said.

"I know, I know... I think it's just that I expected more from him. That he wouldn't be so ... insecure, so keen to fit in with us, you know? He seemed so confident in lab," Uhura answered.

Gaila sighed.

"What?" Uhura asked.

"I am fed up being judged by what species I am. People think just because I'm from Orion all I ever want is fun and sex," Gaila answered, "Why don't you just forget all the preconceptions you have about 'logical' Vulcans. That way you can get to know him for who he is. He might be an untouchable Vulcan, but just maybe, he'll turn out to be exactly like everyone else. Now let's get back, cause I do want to see him get drunk, because regardless of whether he's a Vulcan or not, seeing any lab demonstrator drunk is just fun!"

Uhura bit back the reply that was on her tongue, which would have involved Tim. After her roommate's outburst about being fed up with all the Orion sex jokes she thought it would be a bit insensitive.

Gaila was a remarkable person, she had to admit that. On the surface she really was all fun and games and she often didn't seem very sensible or thoughtful. However her roommate was incredibly good at putting people at ease and making them feel even more relaxed than they already were. She had seen Gaila have that effect on others before and she was currently experiencing it herself. Now that she had talked to her, Uhura found that she was perfectly happy. The little niggling worry that her demonstrator might be making a fool of himself just to fit in was gone. She couldn't even understand why it had bothered her in the slightest that he wanted to get friendly with them by playing along and following the rules of the game. The students got the demonstrators drunk. It was some sort of initiation ceremony, she mused.

Uhura and Gaila were both grinning when they entered the bar again. Tim, Spock and about half a dozen other cadets from her lab group were sitting around a large table.

"Did you get us any drinks, Tim?" Uhura asked.

Tim gestured at the many exotic cocktails in the centre of the table, "I'm not sure which ones I ordered for you, but I think that red one with the berries and the yellow one with the paper umbrella haven't been touched. I think there're some chairs at the table over there you two can steal."

Gaila and Uhura quickly did just this and joined the table. Gaila placed herself next to Tim, who was sitting with Spock and instructing him on the ingredients of a Tequila Sunrise. Uhura sat on the other side of her, across the table from Spock. The rest of her lab group moved up the table to make room without much of a fuss and only one spilt drink.

"Hey, I'm Gaila, nice to meet you!" the Orion girl said leaning across Tim to shake Spock's hand.

"Spock, it is a pleasure to meet you too," he replied.

Gaila, not wanting to miss out on the score immediately started asking questions, to catch up on the last few mintues, "So, which cocktails has Tim had you try?"

"So far I have only tried a Cuba Libre and a Tequila Sunrise," he answered.

"After that I think we should get a round of Mojitos!" Tim interrupted.

"I must admit, I do not feel that thirsty anymore," Spock replied.

"Oh, don't worry," Tim blurted out, "I'll get a round of shots and shooters instead!" and off he ran to the bar.

Gaila looked over at Uhura and gave her a 'what the hell's got into him?' look. Uhura shrugged, she didn't know. If she had to take a guess though, the cynic inside her thought, she'd say that Tim was just getting nervous being that close to Gaila and felt he needed a thicker armour of protective alcohol.

Uhura chose the red berry cocktail. It turned out to be a Raspberry Daiquiri. Without the extra shot of vodka, thankfully. That left Gaila with the yellow one.

"Urgh, what is this?" Gaila asked, after taking a sip. "It tastes like paint-stripper!"

"Probably wasn't meant for you after all," Uhura laughed. She saw Spock raise a quizzical eyebrow, so she explained, "I think Tim's been adding extra shots of alcohol to your drinks. It can completely ruin the taste."

"Indeed," he said regarding his almost-empty tequila sunrise.

"There's plenty here!" Tim announced. He wasn't lying either. The tray he was carrying was full of little glasses, filled with liquids of various colours and consistencies. He placed the tray on the table in front of them.

"Tequila shots first of all!" he said and handed out the glasses, one to each of them.

"Let's have a toast," Gaila said, looking at Tim.

"Eh... yes, right. Um, a toast. Right," he said and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Meet you all under the table!" Tim said, which sent Gaila into a fit of giggles as everyone repeated it after him before downing their drinks.

The only person who didn't draw in a sharp breath and place the shot glass back onto the table with rather more force than necessary was Spock, who merely raised an eyebrow. This didn't escape Tim.

"Well, that wasn't the most inspired toast ever, I have to admit," Tim said to Gaila, "Maybe you can come up with a better one?"

This time Tim handed out some shot glasses that were filled with a clear blue liquid.

"What is this?" Uhura asked.

"Not sure, some blue stuff that looked rather cool. It's meant to taste of oranges. Well, that's what Mike said anyway when I asked him," Tim replied.

"Over to you, Gaila!" he said.

"There are race ships

And there are space ships,

the ships that sail the galaxy.

But the best ships, are friendships,

And may they always be," she chanted.

Again, they all downed their drinks.

Tim had ordered large glasses of everything so far, Uhura noted. She could normally drink any man under the table, but not tonight, she knew. It had been a long time since lunch and she had not eaten since. Neither had anyone else at the table with the possible exception of Gaila, of course. She was starting to feel slightly tipsy already. The alarmingly fast rate at which Tim had them all drinking shots was definitely not helping.

"Not too sure about that tasting of oranges, I have to admit," Uhura said.

"Well, it's a Firebreather next," Tim proclaimed.

"Oh, no thanks, Tim," Uhura said, "I think I'll pass on that one."

Everyone else quickly excused themselves too, apart from Spock who accepted the glass that Tim passed him. It was filled with a pale pink liquid.

"I'll be back in a minute. We'll need some beer to help it go down," he said and rushed off to the bar.

"Once you've downed the Firebreather, one of us has to take the time. Both of you will have to wait one minute before you can down the pint of beer," Gaila explained to the Vulcan.

"I am not sure I understand," Spock said smelling the pink liquid.

"A Firebreather is mix of two liqueurs, both of which are essentially very alcoholic chilli oil. It doesn't burn your throat at first, instead it will feel as if you were swallowing an ice cube. After being forced to wait a minute though, people generally drink more than just one pint of beer," Uhura said laughing. She remembered the last few hours she had spent in the lab and she suddenly realised that there really was no better way to get back at your demonstrator than surprising him with a Firebreather.

Tim returned to their table with two pints and placed them both on the table. Gaila took them both immediately.

"I'll keep hold of these, in case either of your are tempted," she said cheerfully.

"And I'll take the time," Uhura said.

"Cheers," Tim said and him and Spock downed their drinks.

"One minute from now," Uhura shouted.

Their table had gone very quiet as everyone was focusing on the two drinking competitors. Tim was starting to break out in a sweat and after half a minute it was clear he was in sheer agony. His jaw was clenched and he was holding onto the table with his hands as if his life depended upon it.

"Ten more seconds!" she said.

Tim put his head down on the table and started stamping the floor. Across from her Spock sat motionless. He didn't exactly look relaxed, but he also didn't look as if he had just downed a double dose of pure alcoholic chilli oil. The contrast between the two was so comical that the girls found it very hard to stifle their laughter.

"The minute's up," Uhura finally said.

Immediately Tim's hand shot towards the beer in front of Gaila. He drank the entire pint in one go and once he was finished he put the empty glass on his head upside down. Spock took a few sips of his own beer, before catching Tim's pint glass, as it slid off his head. Tim was panting frantically. Now everyone burst out laughing.

Tim had gone bright red, though whether that was out of embarrassment or because of the chilli, Uhura wasn't sure.

At that moment Fred Durban, a third year cadet, who was currently head of the sport's society got up onto one of the nearby tables and roared. Uhura rolled her eyes, not him again, she thought. She watched Mike and another bartender hand over the 'Yard' to a group of 3rd year cadets, who proceeded to fill it with beer. They then passed it up to Fred.

"Oh man, Fred's gonna to try an' break the yard record again!" Tim said excitedly.

"What record is this?" Spock asked Uhura.

She groaned before answering, "The glass he's holding is exactly a yard long and holds about four or five pints. The record depends on what you fill it with I think. For beer it's currently just under two minutes to drink the entire lot at once."

"Hey, us linguists can't let him go unchallenged!" Tim exclaimed and jumped up. He stumbled, but recovered quickly enough and jto jump up onto the table next to Fred. Everyone from their table, apart from herself, Spock and Gaila went over to the other table to support him.

The entire bar erupted in cheers. Uhura hadn't noticed how full the bar had been getting, but now it was packed and the din was deafening. Everyone was standing around the table in the centre, cheering on the two competitors.

Gaila was shaking her head, "I have never understood this challenge. Both of them will be outside vomiting their guts out in a few minutes."

The girls turned their heads away from the spectacle, this was not something either of them felt like watching.

Spock was eyeing up a glass full of green liquid.

"It's Scumble," Gaila said without enthusiasm.

Uhura and Gaila watched in shock as the Vulcan drank it all.

"I'm sorry, I just don't feel like staying up any longer. I don't particularly want to be there when Tim starts projectile vomiting," Gaila suddenly said sitting up. She bade them both farewell.

"Goodbye Gaila, I hope we meet again soon," Spock said.

When she had left, Uhura said, "Scumble is the most alcoholic drink on earth. Probably the most alcoholic drink in the galaxy. And you have had a lot to drink, yet you seem completely sober."

"Vulcans are not affected by alcohol," Spock replied. Suddenly it was all starting making sense to Uhura. She smiled.

"Although I am half-human, my physiology is mostly Vulcan. I have copper based blood," Spock continued.

"I didn't know you were half-human," Uhura said.

"You knew Tim was trying to get you drunk, didn't you? And you played along," she was laughing now.

Their conversation was briefly interrupted by some loud cheering and roaring from the other table. Both contestants had finished their beers and it appeared cadet Durban had won.

"Fascinating," Spock said.

"Really? I just find it all rather sickening," Uhura said, "I hope this doesn't put you off hanging out with us, it's not normally quite this bad."

"Not at all, this has been very educational. I have certainly learnt a lot about cocktails that I did not know before. However, I do have some more work to do tonight, so I must also excuse myself," Spock said.

Then, after looking over towards the other table, where Tim had just started to throw up into the yard glass, he added, "Will you be staying? I could accompany you to the campus gates."

Uhura nodded her head, "Yes, let's get out of here."

As the double doors closed behind them Uhura made a mental note - Tim: nil, Spock: one.

* * *

_To be continued!_

_Hope you liked the update, and thank you all for your reviews so far! :-D_


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's notes: _

_Now I know that I cannot link properly from this website, but you should be able to piece this link together if you wish to hear the following piece of Vulcan lyre music:_

_type in the usual address for youtube followed by:_

_/__watch?v=hmgYMTO6Th4_

_Oh, and of course I own nothing. Spock and Star Trek TOS & XI movie etc are Paramount's (Or whatever it is I'm meant to say here). This is all just about me having some evil fun with their characters!_

* * *

**Chapter 3: Satan's Ears**

From then on, Spock often joined them for a brief drink in the bar after labs. Uhura enjoyed his company immensely. He was so unlike the cadets she usually spent her time-off with. Spock was sociable, but he didn't try too hard to fit in and seemed very comfortable in his own skin. Tim on the other hand had become louder and more boastful.

If Uhura was completely honest with herself, she more than just enjoyed Spock's company. She'd 'flirted at him' on more than a few occasion. Uhura was still working on turning this into 'flirting with'. She was making good progress on that front, though, she thought. It was all a bit of light-hearted fun, she told herself.

The music society had taken over the bar tonight. Uhura didn't play any instrument herself, but she was a reasonably good singer. She was confident there would be some opportunity to showcase her talent as the musicians were bound to start free-styling at some point.

She walked through the crowd towards the linguists' usual table. Gaila, Tim and Spock were already there. Spock was holding his Vulcan Lyre.

"What a beautiful instrument! I'm glad you brought it along today, so that we can finally hear you play it! I can't wait to hear what it sounds like, you know. " Uhura said as she sat down next to him.

Spock's fingers moved gracefully over the lyre's strings as he strummed a Vuclan tune.

"That's lovely, Spock," she said when he had finished.

"I am glad you think so," he answered and resumed the tune.

Around them others were quietening down, listening to the music. Uhura closed her eyes and started to hum a tune. The music stopped and she opened her eyes quickly. Spock looked at her almost accusingly.

"I'm sorry, I was in a little world of my own," Uhura apologised for interrupting his music.

Spock flashed her wicked a smile and looked at her, inviting her to sing to his music. Uhura felt her heart literally skip a beat. That was the most emotion she had ever seen on Spock's face. Gaila nudged her in the ribs, "Go on, she whispered, sing us something."

Uhura stood up, all around people were had now stopped tuning their own instruments and were listening. Spock struck up a lively tune.

"Now from a planet out in space

There comes to us a man in Satan's guise,

Whose devil's ears and devil's eyes

Could rip your heart from you!

"At first his look could hypnotise,

And then his touch would barbarise.

His alien love could victimise...

And rip your heart from you!

"And that's why female astronauts

Oh very female astronauts

Wait terrified and overwrought

To find what he will do.

"Oh girls in space, be wary,

Be wary, be wary!

Girls in space, be wary!

We know not what he'll do."

Everyone laughed and applauded them. She had possibly been quite brave in poking fun at her Vulcan superior in such a way, but she knew, at this point in time, if anyone could get away with it, it was her. That thought warmed her.

_

* * *

_

_To be continued ... Tim has still not settled the score with Spock after all..._


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's notes:_

_Finally finished my exams, so here's an update! Hope you enjoy and thank you all so much for your reviews so far! :-D_

_Oh, and of course I own nothing. Spock and Star Trek TOS & XI movie etc are Paramount's (Or whatever it is I'm meant to say here). This is all just about me having some evil fun with their characters!_

* * *

**Chapter 4: Tim's revenge**

Uhura sat on her bed and glanced over to Gaila's half of the room. It was a tip. Gaila was busy sorting through the mess. Occasionally she would attempt to fold up a shirt and stuff it into her suitcase, which was already overflowing with clothes.

Uhura felt it hard to believe that it had been less than half a year ago that her, Gaila, Tim and Spock had all started hanging out together. It felt like they had all been friends for ever. She smiled, sure that this was a sign that she had finally found the perfect group of friends. The last month they had hardly seen each other, though. Along with most other cadets, they had been too busy with exams to socialise.

Spock, of course, had no exams. She was sure he understood how busy they had been with their revision though, since he had been in the same position as a cadet. Although Spock had agreed to teach her to play the Vulcan lyre, so far she had only had a few lessons due to the pressure of exams.

So her emotions about the upcoming end of year party at the bar were mixed. She was very excited to finally be able to relax and have fun with her friends again, but at the same time it would be the last time she would see her friends before they left for the summer holidays the following day.

"How on earth are you going to get all that into your suitcase?" Uhura laughed, when her thoughts returned to the present again.

"I have no idea, I am awful at folding things up neatly for travel! How are you going to manage, you haven't even started packing!" Gaila answered, now laughing herself.

"I really don't have that much to pack, to be honest," she replied and opened her wardrobe door. All Uhura's clothes were neatly folded up, ready to be placed into her suitcases.

"It really won't take me very long at all," she said.

"How do you manage to fold your shirts like that? Would you help me pack?" her Orion room mate begged. "Otherwise I won't have finished packing by tonight. And I'm definitely not going to be missing out on the fun. Tim's organised something special. He's being incredibly secretive."

* * *

"Happy Birthday!" they all chorused.

"What? My birthday was two weeks ago and we went for a few drinks..." Uhura said.

"Yes," Tim interrupted, "but that's not really enough, is it? Your birthday will always be in the middle of exams while we're at the academy, so we can't just ignore it every year, can we? So I am moving your birthday! Today is your official academy-birthday!"

Uhura laughed, this was brilliant.

"Thank you everyone!" she said.

Gaila had led her to one of the larger common rooms within the cadets' halls of residence. There were balloons all over the place and a lot of odd kitchen utensils, crayons and paper. Then it hit her what they were there for, "Those are for games played at little kids' birthday parties!" she exclaimed, a broad grin lighting up her face.

"Well, some of us are leaving early tomorrow. Wouldn't want anyone to miss their transport, would we?" Tim said, "So it's a non-alcoholic birthday party! Which is to say, just like the ones we all used to have as little kids!"

"What a wonderful idea, Tim, thank you," she said and hugged him tightly.

"Hahaha, don't just thank me, everyone who's here was helping me set it up," Tim laughed. "Gaila came up with a lot of the ideas, but her main task was to keep you away from the common room."

He turned to Gaila, "Did I get the paper-chain decorations right?" he said.

Gaila's eyes were shining. It seemed Tim and her had been planning this together for a while. Uhura guessed it was probably Gaila's and not Tim's idea to make this a non-alcoholic party. Maybe, she thought, this would be the night Tim and Gaila finally got together after all these months of tip toeing around each other and pretending not to be interested in one another.

"The food looks amazing!" Uhura heard Gaila squeal.

She looked over to the table.

"That is a lot of chocolate!" she exclaimed.

"Yup! We have chocolate milkshakes, triple chocolate cake, chocolate biscuits, chocolate mousse and of course, lots of chocolate bars to snack on!" Tim said, beaming.

Uhura hugged him again. "This is amazing guys," she said.

"Come on, let's sit and have some cake. I am starving and that cake looks delicious!" Gaila said. While every guest was helping themselves to masses of chocolate, Tim went over to Spock to advise him on the food. Eventually Spock ended up with a bit of everything on his plate and they all sat down at a table in the corner. Everyone was far too busy eating to chat much for a while.

"I think that I need a bit of a break from all this chocolate," Uhura said. Everyone laughed and agreed.

"There's only so much chocolate I can eat and drink in one sitting without craving something salty like crisps."

"So, we're all off back home tomorrow. What a year it's been," Tim said.

"I can't wait to see my family again, I've been away for so long. I can't wait eat proper Orion food again. My mum's the best cook! My dad's going to take me on this great hiking trip on the moon, it's going to be great," Gaila said.

"Of course I'll miss all you guys though," she added quickly.

"Same," Uhura agreed, "Although it's been a lot easier for me to visit my family occasionally at the weekends, so they aren't going to fuss over me quite as much."

"We'll all see each other again next year," Gaila said and hugged Uhura, as if she were saying goodbye already.

"Feeling a bit emotional?" Tim said, nudging Spock.

Spock gave Tim a sideways glance. It wasn't like Spock to show annoyance, but it was funny as hell so Uhura and Gaila burst out laughing.

"Not even a little?" Tim pressed on, "You'll be home again soon. Your parents will be there when your ship gets to Vulcan to greet you in a very logical and orderly manner. They must be quite proud of all you've achieved here at Starfleet after all, so they'll discuss the details of your work at the academy in agonising detail, I bet you can't wait!"

"Tim, his mother's human, have you forgotten?" Uhura interrupted, "She'll give him a big hug at least!"

"Ok, so you'll get an emotional welcome from your mother, but your father will be all logical at least. Something you must have missed being on earth for so long. Did you not even miss your father a bit? No emotions?" Tim nudged Spock in the ribs.

"My father and I have not spoken in years," he answered.

Although his voice was steady and calm, Uhura could see the hurt in his eyes. Spock was not normally easy to read at all and at times she had doubted he even had emotions. She now chided herself for ever having entertained that thought.

Tim didn't seem to notice any of that though and started questioning Spock about his father, "How come you haven't talked? What happened?"

"I declined a place at the Vulcan Science Academy in favour of joining Starfleet. He did not agree with my decision and has refused to speak to me since."

Everyone, including Tim, seemed to consider Spock's answer for a while. He had never really spoken about his life back on Vulcan before.

"I'm sorry, Spock," Tim finally said, "I'm sure he'll get over it eventually, you know. Once he realises how much you are achieving here on Earth. Obviously Vulcans are bit different. You probably aren't quite as unruly and rebellious as other teenagers. No, I can't imagine you having arguments about staying out late at parties with your parents.

"So it probably came as more of a shock to your father when he finally had to realise that you were a fully grown man, or Vulcan as the case may be, and that you were making your own choices in life."

Uhura squeezed Tim's arm under the table. That was a very thoughtful response and she was happy Tim had cottoned onto the fact that this was obviously one of Spock's sore spots.

When Spock didn't reply, Tim went on, "My dad didn't talk to me for nearly half a year when I was 16. Really, Spock. He'll get over it eventually. It's not exactly logical to avoid talking to your son for ever, is it?"

"No, it isn't," Spock said. The bitterness in his voice shocked Uhura.

"My father always raised me to do as he says, not do as he does. Possibly he feels that he did not honour Vulcan traditions enough himself, so I should, in his stead, be more Vulcan than he ever was. I have tried my best to live up to his expectations. However, as logical and culturally advanced as my people claim to be, they found it hard to accept a half-Vulcan. As much as I might apply myself to the study of logic and science, they always look upon me as an inferior individual. I hoped Starfleet would be more accepting."

"Uhura, can I talk to you for a moment?" Tim whispered.

She raised a questioning eyebrow, but nodded. They got up and Tim pulled her over into a corner.

"I'm, really, really sorry," Tim started to whisper.

"Tim, don't worry, it's not your fault for bringing up this topic. It's clearly just a very sore spot for him," she said.

"No, no, you don't understand. It is my fault. All this chocolate," Tim said waving towards the cake on the table, "I wanted to get back at Spock. After searching through some obscure medical journals on Vulcan physiology I discovered that chocolate apparently makes them lose control. They become very emotional. It's a bit like being drunk really, so I thought... I thought it would be funny, I didn't know he'd become all depressed and angry..."

The mental daggers Uhura was throwing at him cut him off. She turned back to the table where they had been sitting, but Spock was gone.

"Where is he, Gaila?" she asked urgently.

"He said he was feeling unwell and needed some fresh air."

"I'll come with you to look for him," Tim volunteered.

"Stay here, you've already done enough damage," she replied.

* * *

_Hehehe, sorry for that little cliff-hanger! _


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's notes:_

_Thanks you all so much for your reviews so far! :-D They're all really appreciated!_

_Oh, and of course I own nothing. Spock and Star Trek TOS & XI movie etc are Paramount's (Or whatever it is I'm meant to say here). This is all just about me having some evil fun with their characters!_

* * *

**Chapter 5: Emotions**

"Spock, are you ok?" Uhura said. She placed a hand lightly on his shoulder. He was leaning against the wall outside, breathing heavily, with his eyes closed.

At her touch he straightened up and tried to pull himself together a bit.

"I do not want you to see me like this," he said and shook off her hand.

Spock didn't look at her, instead he just started to walk away. Uhura followed him. Although he didn't acknowledge her and he was taking long, quick strides, at least he wasn't trying to stop her. He was clearly embarrassed about not being able to control himself completely. Could she trust him to ask for help if he needed it? In his current state, she wasn't sure. And how badly was this affecting him? Seeing him collapsed against the wall had scared her.

She really didn't know what to do. Uhura had plenty of experience dealing with drunks, but she couldn't be sure that that was the exact same situation he was in. And Spock hadn't known that the chocolate would have this effect on him. It worried her, because not only did she have no idea how serious or benign this might be, but Spock clearly didn't either. Uhura desperately wanted a medical opinion on this.

After a few minutes Spock slowed his pace. She could have caught up with him easily now, without needing to run, but she remained at a distance. She didn't want him to try and rush off again. Even in the gloom she could tell that he was unsure on his legs and breathing hard. He was clearly getting worse with every passing minute. She watched as he reached out with his hands to steady himself on the backrest of a park bench. He stayed like that for a minute or two, gasping and leaning heavily on it for support. Eventually he resigned himself to his body's weakness and sat down on it.

Uhura thought that if it were Tim on the bench, it would only be a matter of minutes before he started to throw up. She wasn't sure if Spock would, but she thought it best to just observe for the moment. If he was going to, she wanted to give him some privacy. When she was sure that he wasn't going to be sick she approached him carefully. Uhura sat down next to him. She neither spoke nor looked at him for a few minutes.

"Someone tried to play a prank on you. It seems that for Vulcans chocolate is intoxicating. How do you feel, Spock? Is there any doctor I should call?" Uhura said, only turning to look at him when she spoke the final question.

She knew it was pointless trying to conceal the identity of the prankster really, since it was obviously Tim, but she didn't want the two of them to argue just right now.

Spock remained silent. But just as she had given up waiting for a reply he spoke, "I feel ... ill."

And with those words he buried his head in his hands, hiding it from her view. His elbows were resting on his thighs and the effort of trying to control himself was clearly showing now in his posture. The exertion this was costing him was making him sweat... or maybe it was the chocolate, Uhura thought.

She knew the feeling of being drunk all too well, but for a composed Vulcan she imagined it would be awful not to be in control anymore. He looked very pale in the moonlight. She was glad that they were at least out in the fresh air and away from the others.

He didn't look like he was in any fit state to phone his doctor and he was clearly very uncomfortable with this whole situation. However, he wasn't running away, that was one bonus, she thought. So, she'd been allowed to stay at his side despite what he was going through and then there had been his admission that he felt ill. Did all this amount to him giving her the permission to call for some sort of medical assistance? He looked bad, but not so bad that he wasn't capable of asking for help himself if he needed any.

Uhura briefly thought about contacting the 24 hour, out-of-hours, duty nurse on campus. There weren't exactly many Vulcans in Starfleet, though. So the nurse would know that it was either Spock or Admiral T'Pol who was 'drunk'. And what help would the duty nurse be anyway? She'd know nothing about Vulcans and so she'd send them straight to the accident and emergency department.

Spock did look bad, but although Tim, damn him to the depths of hell, was an idiot he wasn't malicious. She seriously doubted that he would knowingly have given Spock anything that was actually all that dangerous. To be sure though, for her own peace of mind if nothing else, she decided that she would call one of her friends who was training in medicine at the academy. If Tim had been able to get hold of information on this, surely her friend would be able to do the same quite easily.

Whatever it was her friend would have to say, she wanted Spock to hear it too, so she opened her communicator and hailed her medic friend Chris.

"Hey, what's up? I'm just on my way down to a medic party. You've decided the xenolinguists are just too boring and want to join forces with us awesome medics?"

"Not quite, Chris. I need a favour," she said, the tone of her voice in complete contrast to Chris' joyfulness.

"Sure, what can I do for you?"

The voice at the other end of the communication channel now sounded a lot more serious.

"Some students have pulled a prank on a Vulcan. They have given him a lot of chocolate, apparently it's intoxicating to Vulcans. He's not feeling well. What should I do now? How serious is this?"

"Sorry, hun, but I've only studied the human curriculum so far," he answered. She thought she could hear some snickering in the background.

"Could you please look this up? You medics all have access to Starfleet medical files on xenomedicine, right?"

There was a long pause before Chris finally replied, "I'm heading back to my room now. I can do a quick search on this, but that's all I can do. I don't know anything about Vulcans. How bad is he? There's always the accident and emergency department over in the Sir Alexander Fleming building."

Uhura looked over to Spock, who hadn't moved at all.

"He said that he was feeling ill and he doesn't seem to be able to walk far right now. He's just sitting down and holding his head, eyes closed, not moving much. I've been told it was supposed to make him act drunk. But I want to know if that's really all that's going on, that's he's basically drunk, and nothing more serious. I'm worried Chris."

"I'll call you back when I've found some info on this."

"Thank you so much, Chis."

"No problem," he replied before hanging up.

The wait was awful. If Spock had heard any of the conversation he didn't make any move to show that he had.

Uhura gave a sigh of relief when Chris finally called her back.

"Well, it appears from what the database says that it is less harmful physiologically than alcohol, in terms of toxicology. It's listed as very low risk, but again I am not able to give a diagnosis. The physical symptoms should only last a short while. The psychological impact is far worse though. It makes them very unpredictable, impulsive and emotional. I suppose, it's like being confronted with a Vulcan from their pre-logic days.

"So, in comparison to humans being drunk, I'd say that it's less dangerous. You really don't have to worry about him getting chocolate poisoning or anything like that. But do keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. I think that's the biggest danger. So in that respect, he'll just act like any human drunk I suppose."

"So what should I do right now? As I said, I don't think he's up to walking home just yet We're in the academy gardens at the moment, sitting on a bench."

"Sounds good. Wait for it to clear out of his system a bit, then he'll be able to walk home. Just make sure he does get home and sleeps the rest off and it should all be fine."

"Thank you so much, Chris! I'm really sorry to have to call on you to check this up for me, but I had to be sure," she said.

"Yeah, of course, don't worry. That's why in two, three years time I'll be up to my neck in this stuff. Because with us all being one happy inter-planetary family we need to know about such things. Telorians can't digest pizza and bananas will send even the toughest Naussican into a deep coma and we wouldn't want some banquet at a peace treaty ending up in a massive war just because the chief diplomat died before the main course could even be served," Chris joked.

"Spock, did you hear all that?" Uhura asked softly once Chris had hung up.

The Vulcan nodded his head without changing his position.

"I'll just sit here until you feel better to make sure you're ok. And when you are feeling better we can walk back to your flat together. I know you might prefer to be alone, but I'm your friend and so I won't leave your side until I know that you are definitely going to be alright."

The next few hours were incredibly boring. Spock didn't move at all, he just sat there, bent over, still hiding his face in his hands. She was glad that she had checked up on this with her friend, though, or she would really be freaking out. This was not how she had hoped to spend the evening. She had sent a message to Gaila to let her know what was happening and since then she had simply sat there, watching the last light of dusk leaving the sky. The stars were bright and clear above.

The wind was quite chilly, though. She had run out without a jacket. It was the end of June and the nights were mild, but not quite warm enough to be wearing little more than a t-shirt.

Finally he spoke, "I feel like I can walk home now."

She was glad to hear him speak. And he sounded a lot better. Sober even.

"Thank you," he added. Well, he was still not being very talkative, but it was better than silence.

"Let me at least walk back to your flat with you. I'll worry all night if I don't know that you got home ok. Maybe you need to see a doctor, I mean, who knows what other effects the chocolate will have on you?" she said.

He nodded his agreement, still not looking at her directly.

"How do you feel?" she pressed.

"Emotional. It is very undignified. Please, as little interaction as possible," he said, and with that he started walking home.

* * *

Uhura watched as he operated the keypad to open the door of his flat. He had not talked to her, but he didn't seem anywhere near as bad as he had when he had first left the party. If he hadn't told her that he was still feeling the effects, she wouldn't have known. He didn't look particularly emotional and apart from the fact that he had ignored her, he seemed to be acting normally enough.

"Spock...," she started to say, but he interrupted her.

"I thank you for watching over me," he said. And for the first time since the start of this entire episode he looked straight at her. Their eyes met.

Her breath caught in her throat. His eyes were dark and full of life. Sadness, joy, desire, anger... she had to break eye contact. She felt that she had just seen a part of him that he normally kept locked up in chains, in the depths of his being. As the seconds passed she realised that all that was left for her to do was to bid him goodbye and go back home. She wouldn't see him for the next few months and when she did this would be a distant memory. The moment would be gone and she would never see that much of his soul again.

Her heart beat faster in her chest and she felt her skin tingle as she walked up to him to say goodbye properly. She glanced up at him and the look in his eyes gave her goosebumps. The pounding of her heart told her all she needed to know about her feelings for Spock. She leaned in and kissed him goodbye. The kiss would have been innocent enough if she had placed it on his cheek rather than his lips.

Uhura jumped when she felt his touch on her back. He pulled her even closer. His eyes were dark with desire.

"Do you know what you are doing?" he whispered hoarsely.

She considered how to reply to that question. And then she gave up on rational thought and simply kissed him again. Uhura was taken aback by the passion with which Spock responded to her kiss, but she wasn't going to complain.

* * *

_To be continued... :-D_


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's notes:_

_Thanks you all so much for your reviews! I really do appreciate them all! :-D :-D :-D_

_To answer some questions: The chocolate thing is semi-canon. As in, no Vulcan is ever shown to be intoxicated by it (except in star trek books possibly) but it's hinted at once or twice. It seems very fringe, so I'd guess that Spock wouldn't know about it, although slightly renegade, 'druggy' Vulcans might, lol. It's also implied quite often that Vulcans aren't affected by alcohol. The fact that Spock and Sarek were estranged for decades is dealt with in one of the movies (not the 2009 one). They make up after he rescues his life in that movie though, similar to what happens in the 2009 movie when he rescues his father from Vulcan. _

_In general, little things like that, which I include are bound to have some basis in canon, keep that in mind while reading the next chapter!_

_You want fluffy S/U interaction!? Muwhahaha! But I am evil! _

_Oh, and of course I own nothing. Spock and Star Trek TOS & XI movie etc are Paramount's (Or whatever it is I'm meant to say here). This is all just about me having some evil fun with their characters!_

**

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**Chapter 6: Choices, choices, choices...**

Uhura turned over in bed and wrapped the heavy sheet tighter around her. How cold it was in this bed! She was used to a duvet. These thoughts took a while to actually form and press themselves to the front of Uhura's waking consciousness. Then when they arrived there, they stood there and waved at her frantically. That got her attention and she sat up and was immediately awake. The fog of sleep cleared from her mind at once and was followed by a flood of last night's memories. She looked around. Yes, she was in Spock's quarters - in his bed. He wasn't lying next to her, though.

She took in the room. Both her's and Spock's clothes lay where they had fallen last night, strewn across the room. This seemed odd. She would have thought that if Spock was awake he would have tidied up. He could not have been up for very long then, Uhura thought. That thought at least was somehow comforting to her. She shivered. It really was cold.

She decided to get out of bed and get dressed, then she would go looking for him. When she moved, though, her muscles protested. Her body ached all over. She had not been with a man in a long time and on top of that Vulcans were not the most gentle in the heat of the moment, she had learnt. Her lip hurt. She remembered he had bitten it, quite hard, and it had bled.

Oh gods, what had she done? Uhura didn't know what to think about all this. Oh this was bad. She certainly had feelings for him, but did Spock really feel the same? She tried to imagine how she'd feel if this was all that ever happened between them. All that little thought experiment proved to her though was how badly she wanted more to come of this night and how much hurt she was exposing herself too. He was a logical Vulcan, who didn't let anyone see the turbulent waters of his soul, that's who he really was. Last night, well, last night was just a slip up on his part due to the chocolate.

She got out of bed and proceeded to slowly pick up her clothes. Slowly and stiffly being the words here. Once she had them all gathered up she sat back down on the bed again and started to think about Spock and what he might think of all this.

Last night, he had touched her mind. It hadn't been a full mind meld, he had told her as much at the time. If that's what simply 'touching' minds was like, she didn't think she'd ever want to go through a full mind meld. She hadn't been able to pick up on any coherent thoughts, which she supposed was actually what a normal mind meld was all about. This had been about connecting on a base-level. Probably something Vulcans only did 'under the influence', she thought.

So did he know how she felt about him? Probably not, but she couldn't be sure. She had felt a lot of things last night, but, and here her mouth twisted into a rueful smile, not really anything terribly fluffy or romantic. Last night had been a bit more, well, primal. And also, she didn't know how he felt about her, when she thought back to the experience. All she had felt from him last night was a dark desire and longing. Was that all last night had been about, though? Sex? She remembered the strength and intensity of his desire and shuddered.

Once she was dressed the went to look for Spock. There was nothing to be done about it, mind meld or no, it seemed nothing could replace talking about your feelings. She tried to compose herself for this meeting. Somehow she was sure this would be the weirdest, most logical 'the morning after' conversation she was probably ever going to have.

Uhura found him sitting on the floor in his living room meditating. He was wearing some sort of white gown. She sat down next to him.

"Spock?" she tried to open a conversation.

"I am mediating in an attempt to master my emotions," he answered.

He took a deep breath then opened his eyes before looking at her.

"Are you alright? I must ask for your forgiveness for my barbaric actions last night," he said.

"No lasting physical damage," she replied with a broad smile and looked at him fondly. Barbaric actions indeed! Spock had such a quaint way of describing things. She also noted that he had let her know that he had still not quite regained complete control yet.

"Emotional?" he asked.

Uhura regarded him for a few seconds before answering that one. She wasn't sure where this was going at all and suddenly felt very vulnerable, "I don't know. I suppose that depends on how this talk goes. Where do we take things from here?"

"I cannot be ruled by my emotions, it is undignified," Spock said.

"Spock, relationships aren't logical."

"Human relationships are not logical. Vulcan ones, on the hand, are though," he replied.

"So you don't want to go out with me because I am human?" she countered. The words came out before she had time to think or consider them. The sentence was thickly laced with agitation. She hadn't meant to say those words, but a small, hard knot was forming in her throat and now she couldn't help feeling used and angry all of a sudden. He was trying to work it all out with logic. She hated him in that moment.

"What about your parents?" she said, desperation creeping into her words and for that she hated herself more than she hated him.

"Yes, my father married a human. I did not say that my parents' situation was illogical, that it might not some times be the logical course of action. That does not change the fact that in relationships between Vulcans logic governs the relationship, whereas this is not the case between humans," he said.

She knew that was true, he was being all logical, damn him. Her mind was racing. What the hell was he trying to say? She reflected that she was somehow expecting him to pick up on her feelings and talk to her on a sentimental level, while he as a Vulcan was merely laying the facts out on the table so he could pick the whole situation apart logically. He was being a logical bastard. Maybe that was all he was trying to say. She still felt uneasy.

She tried to calm herself down. So, Spock wanted all the facts on the table. He didn't know what she was thinking and obviously that would make a difference to what would, logically, be the best outcome. He didn't even know that she wanted a relationship with him. And she was suddenly very sure that that was what she wanted, a relationship with him. However confusing one between humans and Vulcans might be. Maybe he need to hear that?

He had wanted to know about her mental state she remembered. That had been his second question, right after inquiring whether he had physically hurt her or not.

Uhura didn't know how she felt about telling him, though. Already, she was feeling incredibly uncomfortable and vulnerable and that little lump in her throat wasn't shifting. If she told him, she would be putting her heart out there for him to see, although he hadn't done the same for her. She wondered if protecting herself in this way was petty or not. She took a deep breath, aware that Spock was waiting for her to say something.

"You asked about my emotions, are they important for your decision making process?" she asked him finally. Uhura hoped that she sounded calm and collected rather than bitter.

Spock seemed to consider this.

"I have feelings for you," he said.

That was not an answer to her question of course, but it made her heart skip a beat. Maybe he wasn't being such a calculating icicle after all and was being considerate of her, undoubtedly, illogical feelings.

She tried to stay calm. She reminded herself that this didn't mean that he wanted a relationship with her. It had to be logical first. She couldn't help herself though, she smiled. Things were looking up, they really were and it was such a relief.

"I have feelings for you too," she said smiling, "And am definitely willing to give a relationship a try. I know you said that human relationships aren't logical and that Vulcan ones are. But for us there isn't a choice here between a human one and a Vulcan one. Simply a chance that we can either take or not. I believe that we have nothing to lose by giving this a go." She turned that sentence over in her mind again and was confident that her own logic was correct. This made her feel a lot better.

However Spock didn't talk for a long time.

It made her nervous. The longer he remained silent, she more could feel the anger building up inside of her again. It was hard for her not to let it all out. All the mixed feelings she had experienced earlier where back again with vengeance along with the stone in her throat. She was about to snap. She tried to tell herself that he had told her the most important thing, that he had feelings for her. If that was the case though, why the hell was he not answering now? What was he thinking? Her logic was sound, but she had had a gut feeling about how this conversation was going to go the minute she woke up alone in bed.

This talk they were having was clearly taking a great toll on her. It was a rollercoaster. She felt so frustrated and was close to tears.

"Your logic is sound, but you are incorrect in your assumption I am afraid," Spock finally said.

"Which assumption?" she said.

"The one about the choice not being between either a human or a Vulcan relationship, I am afraid," he said.

Uhura could feel her stomach drop out from under her as the various scenarios of what he could be implying started to take on dark shapes in her mind. No, she though, no, this can't be happening.

"Nyota, I have a Vulcan wife, ..."

She didn't let him finish that sentence. She jumped up and rushed for the door.

Spock was quick and jumped up too, but she was already half way through the door.

"Wait, do not run away. Stay and let me explain. This is important. You do not understand... Nyota!"

There was real urgency and in his voice. She knew she should turn round, go back and listen to what he had to say. However, she was also about to cry and she could not deal with this situation right now. The tears were already stinging her eyes. If she turned round now Spock would see her cry. She was a wreck. No, she didn't feel like she could go back. Would he try to follow her? She stopped thinking and just ran as fast as she could. She didn't stop running, tears streaming down her face, until she reached her room where she collapsed onto her bed and cried.

* * *

_To be continued of course... _


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's notes:_

_Thanks you all so much for your kind reviews! Really, really appreciated! :-D Only a short update for now, but there will be more soon I hope!_

_Oh, and of course I own nothing. Spock and Star Trek TOS & XI movie etc are Paramount's (Or whatever it is I'm meant to say here). This is all just about me having some evil fun with their characters!_

**

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Chapter 7: Holidays

"What do you want? Don't you think you've caused enough damage already, Spock?" Gaila shouted.

"I wish to spea...," Spock started to say, but Gaila cut him off, "I've had enough of you guys. Listen, she doesn't want to see you right now, so go!"

And with that Gaila closed the door on him.

She turned to her room mate, "Sorry, I get so angry some times. Still, I'm sure he deserved it."

Uhura smiled, "Yes, yes he did. I suppose it's my turn to shout at Tim now?"

Gaila and her both laughed. Suddenly Uhura didn't want to leave Gaila's side. She knew Gaila was off home in a matter of hours and that really she should be sensible and talk to Spock before he too left Earth, but the day had gone far too badly for her to act sensibly.

"Gaila, I don't know what I'm going to do without you over the summer," she said and squeezed her hand tightly. She felt good around Gaila.

"Tim and Spock have messed us around so much since yesterday, I feel now we need a lot of ice cream and lots of long girly chats. Seriously, this morning I thought the world was about to end and now that you're there I feel so much better. I think I might actually live through the day," Uhura said and laughed.

Gaila was clearly touched. Then she jumped into action and grabbed the nearest PADD.

"Well, why the hell shouldn't we spend some time together, then? I'm not feeling great either. The holidays are long enough, I can put off seeing my family for another week or two. Let's go on a girly holiday together. To Risa or some place like that! I mean, why not? There's nothing stopping us. I can book us transport right now and we can be out of this solar system by tomorrow, on our way to the beach," Gaila said.

Uhura was used to this kind of spontaneous behaviour from Gaila, but this was quite an ambitious plan, even for Gaila's standards. But she was right of course. Why not? What was actually stopping them? And did she really want to go home feeling as crap as she did? No, another week or two with Gaila, bitching about Spock and Tim was exactly what she needed. It felt right.

"Why the hell not?" she answered eventually and smiled broadly.

Gaila jumped up and hugged her friend.

"This is going to be awesome! And there will be chocolate ice cream involved, I promise! On the beach, of course. We have to be good to ourselves and spoil ourselves, best way to get over men," Gaila said.

"Well, our suitcases are already packed, let's go!" Uhura said.

* * *

The spacestation was full of off-world academy cadets of all years waiting for their transports home. Uhura wanted to avoid going to any of the crowded spaces as much as possible in case she bumped into Spock. He'd be there waiting for a ship to take him back to Vulcan. Where he had a wife, she added. And I've messed up his marriage. Great.

Where on earth was Gaila when she needed some distraction? She said she'd only be gone a few minutes to try and get hold of some tasty snacks for their journey. This really was getting ridiculous. Uhura took her communicator out of her bag and called Gaila. There was no answer. When, after a few more attempts, she still didn't receive a reply, Uhura started to worry.

Nothing to be done about it, she thought. She would have to go look for her. She sighed and started her exploration of the spacestation.

* * *

"She's from Orion, has green skin... her file's in the starfleet database," Uhura explained to the security officer on duty. She had searched for ages and hadn't been able to find her friend and she wasn't answering her communicator either. No one had seen her around, and green skinned Orion women do stand out from the crowd after all.

"Alright, I'll try to track her down on the computer," the security officer said, "It should be possible.

"It seems she's on deck 3, I'll send the nearest security patrol over to her location," he said after consulting the computer.

"Thank you," Uhura said.

"Wait over there, I will inform you as soon as I hear back from the patrol," the guy said.

She had barely sat down when the patrol's report came back, "We have a situation. Stationwide alert."

She could hear some phaser fire in the background. Then the alert sirens started to sound all across the station.

"What's going on?" she shouted, but the officer was already hurrying off.

"... indruders," was all she heard him shout.

Security personnel were rushing around everywhere now. She needed to know what was going on.

The security officer she had spoken to previously turned up again. She didn't waste the opportunity and strode up to him and walked besides him as he went about organising his men.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

"It seems your friend has been kidnapped and taken hostage. We got there just in time really. They were about to leave the station. We have grounded all ships and raised shields to prevent them from beaming off the station. No one can get off this station. We are doing our best to get her back," he said.

"What can I do?" she said

"Nothing for the moment. We will contact you if we need any information from you," he said and showed her to the door.

Uhura looked back through the door. Well, she couldn't just stand here and do nothing, she thought. She still had no clue what was going on, but she needed to help Gaila. There must be some way she could help. However she was only a starfleet cadet, not an officer. Not someone people would listen to, not like Spock.

Damn.

She had to find him.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's notes: _

_Cheers for all the reviews again! Thank you so much for the comments!!! :-D_

_Oh, and of course I own nothing. Spock and Star Trek TOS & XI movie etc are Paramount's (Or whatever it is I'm meant to say here). This is all just about me having some evil fun with their characters!_

* * *

**Chapter 8: Mafia**

As much as Uhura didn't want to contact Spock, she also knew that she couldn't just sit around worrying and do nothing while Gaila was being held hostage. And that was exactly what she would be doing if she didn't call Spock now.

At least Spock would make this easy, she thought. He would be able to put aside everything personal and act completely professionally around her. This wasn't going to be too bad, she convinced herself. With that belief currently at the front of her mind she flipped open her communicator before any other thoughts might have time to make themselves heard.

"Spock, it's Uhura speaking," she said. Yes, she though, her last name was the one she usually used, and be damned if last night meant he'd be calling her Nyota from now on. It was also a clear message to him that she was not calling to talk about what had happened between them.

"I hear you," came the reply, calm and measured. He didn't even sound surprised that she was on the spacestation. Clearly he was in control of his emotions again and for that she was thankful.

"Spock, listen, Gaila's the one who's been taken hostage. We were travelling together. I'm on deck 10. I want to know what's going on so I can help. Where are you right now?" she said.

There was a moment's pause, then he answered, "I am now on my way to deck 3, meet me there."

This was more like it, she thought. Security could not object to her being at the scene, even though she was only a cadet, if a Lieutenant Commander had ordered her there. She considered it a mere technicality that she had in essence requested to assist said officer.

* * *

By the time she reached deck 3, security personnel where everywhere. She scanned the high ceilinged cargo bay she had been directed to. Spock was standing on the far side of the cargo bay with two officers. Just then, he caught sight of her too and motioned with his head for her to join them.

"Captain Dittich, Commander La Fontaine," he said, "this is Cadet Uhura, Cadet Gaila's travelling companion."

Uhura walked up to them and both officers acknowledged her with a nod.

"We were just discussing the tactical situation," Commander la Fontaine said.

"I'm afraid I am not up to date with the entire situation. What exactly is going on? I last saw her about an hour ago on deck 16. Is she alright?" Uhura asked. Although she was sure that as a hostage Gaila was certainly most useful to her captors alive and in good health, she was still anxious to hear about her friend.

"She's fine at the moment from what we can tell," the Captain replied.

"Who's taken her hostage?" she asked

"We believe there are three armed men involved," Captain Dittich answered, "It appears that the Orion syndicate is behind all this. They are an organised crime group that operates across a large part of that sector of the galaxy. Even within Federation boarders this organisation had been largely unchallenged. Recently though we have been trying to clamp down on their operations and the Orion authorities have, if not co-operated, at least not made things impossible for us. What can you tell us about your friend? Any reason they might have targeted her specifically, apart from her being one of the only starfleet cadets from Orion of course?"

Uhura tried to process the fact that her room mate Gaila was caught up in some intra-galactic mafia war.

"Her father works in admin for the government of Orion. I am sure he does not hold an elected post himself though," she answered finally.

"That may explain things," Spock said, "On Orion the civil service is one of the few institutions which does not have close ties with the syndicate and who have been most sympathetic to the federation's attempts to track down and prosecute its members."

Uhura nodded to herself, "So they might be trying to force both the Federation and, through her father, Orion's civil service to cease investigating and fighting the syndicate?"

"That is certainly plausible," Spock replied.

"I'm not sure that we should expect that much thought from these men though," the Captain interrupted, "I mean, it is very likely that what they were meant to do was simply kidnap her. They have taken her hostage only because we disrupted their plans. They are no doubt hired muscle, the syndicate wouldn't want to risk its own men on such a dangerous mission. I think this situation is more predictable than politics."

"The men will surely seek to escape with Cadet Gaila until their situation truly appears hopeless. It is their only chance to get out of this without problems," Commander La Fontain joined in, "If they are unsuccessful, the syndicate will not look upon them favourably. And we in turn would imprison them, although that may be preferable to what the syndicate may have in store for them of course. I believe that is our biggest advantage when we negotiate with them."

"For the time being she is safe then, but we mustn't wait for them to become desperate," Captain Dittich concluded.

"Is anyone negotiating with them at the moment?" Uhura asked the Captain.

"The chief of security was talking to them. We have calmed them down enough that we are now in a stand off position. They have chosen their location well. Deck 3 contains many vital engineering systems. It is strongly reinforced because of this. They have activated all the air lock seals, so that we cannot simply use phasers to force open the doors. Going through the walls is not possible for the same reason. We might hit an important plasma conduit, or more likely simply be defeated by the reinforced panels. Some high power weapons can be brought here from another part of the station though if worst comes to worst."

"We believe they are attempting the access the station's systems. We could not disconnect the power to that room, as they have already started to manually over-ride the security systems," the Commander added.

Meaning they'd just gone and smashed up what appeared to be the emergency power shut-down systems, Uhura thought. Unless of course they were forcing Gaila to help them... she didn't want to voice that thought out loud, though.

At that point another officer joined their group. He had been standing just a few feet away, within hearing range, handing out orders. Uhura presumed that he was the chief of security.

The man immediately picked up on what the commander had said, "Well, I don't believe that hired muscle would have the capability to interfere with the space station's systems too much, but I have a few men working on trying to cut that room off from access to most of the control systems. That is not our main priority right now, though. We are drafting a deal to present to the men to free the hostage. Let's hope that they are worried enough about their own lives to accept."

"This is all based on the assumption that we are dealing with unqualified people, however they have already prevented us from terminating power to the room," Spock objected.

"Point taken, but we really have to prioritise," the officer said, "however, feel free to lend a hand to the engineers I have working on that issue if you feel you can help."

"I think I shall do that. Cadet Uhura, if you would assist me," Spock replied and nodded to the other officers before walking towards the nearest turbo lift.

Uhura had no choice, but to follow him.

"We are going to the room above. From there we may be able to access the relevant control systems," Spock said as they entered the lift.

Uhura followed him in. Once the doors had closed she took a deep breath and started straight ahead. The lift started to move upwards.

Just a few seconds later though the turbo lift jerked to a sudden halt, nearly throwing her off balance. When she looked up again it was almost completely dark. As her eyes adjusted she realised there was some minimal light in the lift. It was being emitted by some phosphorescent panels on the lift's walls. She looked at Spock.

Great, she thought, this is just what I need. To have the turbo lift break down while I'm in it alone with Spock of all people.

"The lift is not the only system that is suffering power failure. I have just checked and the communication system is also down. We cannot call for help," he said, "I think we should try to get out of this lift and find another way to our destination."

Spock looked up at the lift's ceiling. She followed his gaze. In the greenish gloom she could just about make out a small hatch. Spock proceeded to reach up towards it and start to unfasten its latches.

Once he had lifted himself up and climbed through the hatch he helped Uhura up. Damn it, she thought, being this close to him should feel uncomfortable. I shouldn't be admiring how strong he is. In the lift shaft itself it was pitch black and she didn't dare let go of his arm.

"How good is your night vision?" she asked.

"Sufficient," he replied, "It would be dangerous to stay here any longer than necessary. I can make out the entrance to a Jefferies tube about ten meters above us. Can you see nothing at all?"

"Not a thing," she answered truthfully.

Uhura felt him take her hand. Her heart started beating faster. She closed her eyes, since she couldn't see anyway, as he lead her to the wall. There he placed her hands around the rungs of a ladder.

"You go first, I will follow," he said softly.

She did as he instructed and climbed the ladder until she came to the Jefferies tube entrance. It glowed very faintly in the dark. But the minimal light created by the tiny phosphorescent strips inside it was enough to help her climb in. Spock was right behind her. In here it was far darker than in the turbolift capsule, but at least she could make out a few things unlike in the lift shaft.

"This is a relatively minor tube. If we crawl along it though it should lead us towards a larger one. Possibly even the one leading towards the room we were heading for anyway," Spock said.

So they crawled on until they came to a junction, where they turned left into what seemed to be a larger tube. Eventually they started to crawl down another one which was just slightly wider again and which was also illuminated by more strips, so that Uhura could actually see where she was crawling.

"Stop," Spock said, "I think I can access the information in this fibre amplifier. It seems to be active, unlike the others I have seen so far."

Once he had removed the casing from both his tricorder and the wall he started hooking his tricorder up to the amplifier. As a second year cadet what he was attempting was a bit beyond her knowledge. The electrical interface of the tricorder was very complicated. It was an immensely useful device which was essentially a portable scanning and computing device all in one.

Since she couldn't really help, she idly stared at the casing of the fibre bundle that lead into the amplifier. It said "G.N.D.N.". So no help there, she thought, they all said that. It was a joke amongst the cadets that it stood for "Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing". She hoped the information travelling through the fibres that Spock was trying to gain access to would let them understand what had happened.

Spock was very intelligent and had always seemed on top of things. He worked very hard for his career and would no doubt one day be one of the federation's most brilliant scientists. If someone had asked her even a few days ago what her 'type' of guy was, she would have said that she didn't really have one. Now though, well, that one night had changed everything. Had her feelings for Spock been this strong before and she just hadn't known? She knew from past experiences how complicated sex could make life, so she went with the theory that the previous night was to blame for the way she now felt about him. It had always been that way for her after all and so she had vowed again and again to be more careful and not rush into things too quickly.

"A lot of the fibre is dark, so we can probably assume that most of the spacestation's systems have been shut down," Spock interrupted her thoughts, "We still have artificial gravity, though. That is a station-wide system, so it cannot be deactivated in just one part of the station. However, life support, another station-wide system, has been deactivated. I cannot tell what shields and weapons status is, as this fibre is primarily used to transmit data on air quality, heating and artificial gravity. However, it is clear that the systems have been shut down selectively, or we would be floating right now. Maybe the hostage-takers have more technical ability than we have given them credit for. The Orion syndicate is very powerful."

"How much oxygen do we have left without life support?" Uhura asked.

"Oxygen is not our problem realistically. There should be more than enough in the air on the spacestation for a day. We would likely freeze to death before that became an issue," Spock replied, "I do not believe that our intruders plan to say on the station for long. They will try to leave as soon as possible."

"So we must break into the room they are hiding in as soon as possible to free Gaila," she said.

"Agreed. We cannot assume that station security will necessarily be successful, especially as it appears the men holding Gaila captive have a considerable aptitude at disabling vital systems."

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed that chapter! :-D_


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's notes_

_Thank you all so much for your reviews! :-D I'm sorry it took a while to update, but here's the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy it! There is LOTS of Spock and Uhura in it! Promis! :-)_

_Disclaimer: don't own anything Star Trek related, it's all paramount's. _

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**Chapter 9: Locked**

Uhura had to restrain herself from giving Spock a big hug and shouting out in joy. Spock had just managed to get through the second air lock which blocked their way. There were a few more to go, she knew, but it gave her hope that they would reach Gaila in time.

"It took you a lot less time to open this one than the last one," she noted, "Will it be easier from now on?"

The first one had taken quite a while to open and Uhura had worried the entire time.

"It is just down to luck. The locking mechanism was not programmed to be inaccessible, but without power to the computers, it is hard to create the correct Shannon code that matches the one on each lock," he answered.

Uhura wasn't sure she understood him fully, but she took it to mean that a simple dictionary coding algorithm had been used for compression purposes, but that he was missing the dictionary. She didn't feel like asking him any questions about this though. She understood enough to know that this meant that they really did need to hurry up, as the next lock might well take centuries to open. Despite the odds she couldn't help but be grateful for Spock's genius and she just knew that they would get through the other air locks too.

* * *

It was getting cold. So cold that Uhura could now see her breath hanging in the air in front of her and she was shivering too. The floor she was sitting on and the wall she was resting her back against were icy. Spock was kneeling down next to the last airlock in the floor that stood between them and the hostage takers. He was completely absorbed in the work he was doing.

She watched him, there was nothing else for her to do after all. His breath did not hang in the air like hers, nor was he shivering. It was the last lock, but Spock had been working on it for nearly as long as all the others combined. They had been moving fast, not wasting time to check the optical fibre nodes on the way, so they had no idea what was happening. The didn't even know for sure if the hostage takers were still on the space station. That was a thought Uhura had tried to avoid, but as time went by she couldn't help but worry that they might be too late to rescue Gaila. On the other hand, if the syndicate members had already left, how come no one had managed to regain control of the life support systems?

"I'm starting to lose feeling in my fingers, Spock. How are you managing?" she said eventually. Spock's movements had started to become more deliberate and slow.

"It is not easy working in the cold. I do not know how much longer I will be able to continue. Vulcans evolved on a desert planet," he replied. "We are close to the outer hull here. I am not surprised that the temperature has already dropped significantly without the life support systems. We don't have much time left."

Uhura nodded and decided to share her thoughts on the hostage situation with him, "The hostage takers must still be on board though. If they aren't, then why has no one regained control of the computer systems yet? I believe it's most likely that star fleet ships have arrived and surrounded the station, not allowing the syndicate members to flee. So now they have taken the entire station hostage. Can you check that theory somehow?"

"I still do not know what our shield an weapon status are. I expect we would have to have shields up to defend against other ships. Maybe they were never able to shut shields down and leave the way they had intended, though. There are too many variables that we do not know. It is pointless to speculate," Spock said.

"So what can we do? We can't just do nothing!" she hadn't meant to sound like she didn't appreciate the work he'd been doing, but it was cold and she was frustrated at their situation and the fact that she was not able to do anything about it herself.

"I am running another algorithm, it is the last one I can think of that might work on this locking system," Spock replied calmly.

After working on his tricorder for a few more minutes, which seemed pass by with all the speed of a glacier, he finally turned to Uhura, "All we can do now is wait. We were very fortunate with all the previous locks, it is a surprise that we managed to come as far as we did."

Spock moved over to her and sat down next to her. She felt a bit bad about her earlier outburst, he was probably just as frustrated as she was. And she knew he was right. They had done all they could. Only to fall down at the last hurdle, though, she thought bitterly.

She pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them for warmth. Her skin was starting to sting horribly in the cold. The cold had creeped up on them, and now the rate at which the temperature was dropping seemed to be exponential.

At that moment the tricorder beeped and Spock went back over to it.

"That also failed. I am out of ideas," he admitted.

Uhura moved towards him. Spock really had done his best and both of them weren't the kind of people to just accept defeat, but what was there left to do? She checked his tricorder and worked on it for a bit, but they both knew that there was nothing she was likely to come up with that Spock had no already tried. Eventually she couldn't move the pins anymore and that's when she managed to break one of them with her clumsy, numb fingers.

Uhura and Spock stared at it for a while.

"How long do we have? How long does the station have?" Uhura asked quietly.

"It will be possible to survive for longer closer to the centre of the station, but not by much. It will very soon be too cold to survive here," he answered levelly.

"How soon?"

Spock didn't answer. She suspected that he had done a rough calculation in his head, but that he wasn't willing to share the answer he had arrived at.

"Our best hope is that the hostage takers turn on the system again in order to avoid being killed themselves," Uhura said.

"They have power inside their hide out in the cargo bay. I am sure they are capable of finding a way to keep themselves warm. They could run a lot of power through a large cable and remove the insulating sheath, for example," he said. Uhura glanced at him sideways. Vulcans really didn't know how to be comforting, did they?

"However, they will eventually need oxygen," Spock said, having read Uhura's expression correctly.

"What a help that is, when our main concern is the cold. By the time the fleet start firing on their own station to save those still barely alive at the core, we'll be ... ," Uhura let the rest of the sentence remain unspoken.

No, they really were abysmal when it came to giving comfort, she finished the thought she had been thinking before.

She was so cold and every muscle in her body was aching. She thought back to how different things had been just 24 hours ago.

"What's her name?" she asked eventually.

"Who's?" Spock replied stupidly.

"Your wife's," she said and turned so she could see his face properly.

"Is this the right time and place to discuss this?" he said. Uhura had to hold him back to prevent him from moving to work on the broken tricorder again. She thought he was trying to escape the conversation.

"Spock," Uhura said.

The Vulcan looked up at her and into her eyes.

"We might not make it," she continued and placed her ice cold hand on top of his and pressed it. Spock returned the pressure. She was so close to him. Uhura moved and leant in closer still.

"Her name is T'Pring," Spock finally answered.

Well that's completely ruined the moment, hasn't it? She thought. She added the fact that Vulcans have no sense for timing to her mental list of things his species was worthless at. This time she let Spock get up and take the tricorder. It was useless, she knew. She had broken it.

"How long have you been married?" she asked him, although he had his back turned to her.

"16 years," he answered.

The next question instantly died on her tongue. Eventually she settled for a simple response.

"What?"

Not the most intelligent reply, granted, but it did express her thoughts in the most concise way possible.

"You want to talk about this now?" he asked again, and Uhura realised that the first time he had asked he hadn't been asking a sarcastic question. It had been a genuine question.

Uhura nodded her head in reply, too confused to do anything else.

Spock turned round to face her again, "That is what I was going to explain this morning. There is no exact English word for what she is to me. More than a betrothed, but less than a wife in the human sense of the word. The marriage was arranged by my parents when we were both seven years old. During that ceremony we were bound to one another telepathically."

He paused for a bit to allow that information to sink in before continuing, "Once we have reached maturity there is another, final ritual. We have not gone through with that one yet, though."

"She deserves to find another mate," he said after a long pause.

"Is that easy, if all marriages are arranged?" she asked.

"It will be possible for her, she is held in very high regard amongst Vulcan men. However, Vulcan divorce law is archaic and complicated. I would hope to reach an informal arrangement with her," he said.

"Informal? You mean, just agree that you are not going to go through with the final ceremonies, but not actually get divorced?" she said.

"It would mean that I could never re-marry in the Vulcan tradition, and neither could she. I need to discuss this with her. There should be plenty of mates willing to be with her under such circumstances on Vulcan, but whether she would agree to this is another matter. However, I trust that she will let herself be guided by logic in this respect," he said.

Uhura thought all this through for a while before asking, "Vulcans live for a lot, lot longer than humans. Would there be plenty of Vulcan women still willing to be with you ... in the future... if you broke things off with her?"

"I am only half-Vulcan and they might prefer..."

"I see. It's her or no Vulcan wife for you," Uhura interrupted. She tried to calm down. Her emotions were not running nearly as high as they had in their previous conversation. The fact that they were probably both just about to die helped with that. They were talking about a choice he was never going to have the chance to make anyway. Logically, yes, she could see why this was a decision that went beyond even choosing between this T'Pring woman and her, but damnit, she couldn't help but feel stung by his words. In her mind, she was back in his room, and he was sitting there calmly trying to analyse the situation in cold-blood. She was not angry at him now, really, she knew that. But with the memories of the morning came the emotions of the morning and she found it hard to put them aside.

"I did not want to make a choice that I might regret while the chocolate still interfered with my thoughts," he said and took her hand into his. She could hardly feel it, there was little sensation left in her hands. But his breath on her face was scalding and his eyes melted the cold in her heart and it comforted her to know that if she died today, at least she wouldn't die alone.

At that moment the hatch in the floor opened itself.

The back of a man's head became visible, but before he had a chance to turn around Spock was there. He moved like a snake and got to him within seconds. Spock had used the Vulcan neck pinch on him before he had had time to make a noise. Immediately Spock's other hand shot out and caught the now limp man by his collar to prevent him from falling back down the ladder he had climbed up. He pulled the body up into the Jefferies tube with them and removed the man's weapon from his belt.

"It would seem that our actions did not go unnoticed and they were worried enough to investigate. That worked out in our favour," he said.

Was that a smile she saw flash across his features?

* * *

_Hope you all enjoyed it, there will be more soon! :-D_


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you all for your reviews so far and for reading! Sorry it's taken me so long to update! Been moving house, that's all. Hope you can forgive a belated update and haven't all forgotten the story! :-)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Startrek_

**

* * *

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**Chapter 10**

The air inside the hostage takers' cargo bay hideout was warm and Uhura could slowly feel herself defrosting. They had found Gaila. She was trapped in some sort of cage which was strengthened by a force field. A rather unnecessary one, she thought. Gaila looked like she was barely conscious. The cage was located on the opposite side of the cargo bay from where they were currently hiding. They could see two heavily armed men. One of them walked over to the cage and exchanged what looked like a gas cylinder.

"Watch out you don't give her too much air. Keep the oxygen low enough to stop her talking. It's been so much more pleasant since we turned down the air to her cage," the other one said, laughing. Uhura straight away put him down as the leader of the small group.

"Haha," the other replied sarcastically, "I hope we have enough oxygen for her at all. I mean, we are pretty low ourselves you know, if you hadn't noticed. Since we've sealed ourselves off in here and you had me disable the life support systems."

"How was I supposed to know that you'd confuse my order to deactivate the system with blasting it to smithereens?" the first man growled.

"Well, you should have given better orders," the second man replied.

"No matter, we won't run out of air. I'm nearly done patching the controls through to another unit that I can access. Then we can reactivate them at any time if it gets bad for us. That's not a problem. Believe me, I'm a computer scientist, I know how to repair the systems. Besides, Starfleet will give in soon enough and let us leave. We're holding a whole bloody station hostage and we're not asking for too much really. I am just waiting for V'ron to find and fix that malfunctioning node I identified," the first one said and demonstratively walked off across the cargo bay towards some consoles. He kneeled next to them and continued the repairs he had talked about.

"What now?" Uhura whispered, "And why is she in that cage?"

"I am not sure. However, I feel we should wait until they have repaired the life support terminal before making our presence known to them," Spock answered.

And so they waited. It wasn't long until the man had finished the repairs, but it seemed like ages to Uhura.

"Right," the computer scientist said, "it's ready to turn on. Though I want to know about that node, before I do. Go find V'ron, will you? Be careful though. He may have got himself electrocuted or possibly caught by Starfleet. Who knows?"

"Caught by Starfleet? You think they may have got through to us and you want me to go and search for him on my own?" the other replied indignantly.

"Well, someone has to stay to look after the hostage. And, no, I don't really think that Starfleet have found him. It's far more likely that he's gone and got himself stuck in some tube and suffocated. Just go!" the man replied angrily.

Uhura thanked her lucky star when the guard left. Now it was two against one. They'd never have a better chance, although the one captor left still clearly had superior weapon power. She looked at Spock and that was all the communication that was needed between the two. Just then though the computer scientist turned up Gaila's oxygen supply and she returned to consciousness. Spock held onto Uhura's arm to hold her back for another moment.

"So, Gaila, how are you feeling? More co-operative?" the man asked.

Gaila was clearly awake now, but she folded her arms across her chest and simply glared at him in silence.

"Tell us the names of the spies within the Orion syndicate. We know your brother was one of them. Surely you have met his friends? Maybe you were even one yourself, although we don't have proof for that yet. You must have done something impressive though to get into Starfleet, since Orion isn't even part of the Federation."

He kicked the cage, "Speak, woman! There is no point in remaining quiet. Your precious Starfleet has given into our demands. How could they not? Your life is worth less than that of the entire station after all. You'll be coming with us and we'll have free passage out of Federation space. Then we will conduct a more detailed ... questioning. Do you understand?" he shouted and kicked the cage again.

Once again, Uhura started to make a move, but was held back by Spock. She shot him a questioning look.

"I have a better idea. I think I understand why she is caged. Trust me. All we need to do is destroy the enclosure," he whispered into her ear. His voice was hardly audible.

"I think we can do that without too much risk if we hide behind that cargo box and fire our phaser's at the cage's control unit. Now!" he said, just as the captor moved and his back was momentarily turned towards them. They rushed across the room towards the cargo box. The man turned around and started firing at them. It did not matter that they had been detected though. Phaser-fire hit the box just as they took cover behind it. Straight away Uhura and Spock had their phasers out and started firing at the cage from behind the box. There was a brief ripple of sparkling air around the cage and the force-field was disabled.

"Drop your gun," Gaila orderd.

Gaila's hostage taker stood in front of her shaking, not able to press the button and vaporise her. He had spun around to shoot her as soon as he realised what was going on, but now he was rooted to the spot. Spock acted straight away and shot him. He slumped forward.

Uhura was not about to waste time either and ran towards the door the other syndicate member had left through, to await his return. As she had anticipated he came running to his friend's aid and right into the tip of Uhura's weapon. She held her phaser steady in front of her, pointed right at his chest. He dropped his weapon. Finally she could let out the breath she had been holding. They had freed both Gaila and the spacestation.

* * *

Uhura and Spock stood opposite each other in silence for a while. So this was good bye, well for the summer at least, Uhura thought. There was an announcement over the intercom that the ship for Vulcan was about to depart. She had to speak now and talk to him, whether she wanted to or not.

"Spock, despite everything that happened yesterday, I have been able to find a few moments in which to think about... our situation."

Spock merely raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her, encouraging her to speak on.

"You must not break it off with T'Pring simply because of me," she continued.

"If you do decide not to be with her and forsake your Vulcan traditions, then I want it to be for other reasons. I don't want you to think about me when you make your choice. Otherwise that might always be a big issue between us. When I think of you and when I am near you, I do feel very giddy and, dare I say, in love. But I have felt like this before."

She paused to take a breath before ploughing ahead with her explanation, "We are both young. I can't make any guarantees that it would work between us. It is logical to hesitate and pause to think."

Now that the words had been said, though, and he just stood across from her, motionless, insecurities started to creep back into her mind. She pushed them aside and tried to ignore them. It would be a fine day when she'd lose her composure during a simple chat like this. When she had cried yesterday morning, it had been a one-off. She was strong and wasn't going to fall apart again.

Uhura looked into his eyes and she swore that Spock knew exactly what she was thinking and it made her feel very small. She had decided that she couldn't be with him if it meant she had to live with this guilt hanging over her. Not just the guilt, though. The pressure, the expectations that would be piled onto this relationship which he'd have to sacrifice so much for. She didn't want to feel like she had to make it all worth the trouble, because she didn't know if she could. She looked into his eyes. They were alien eyes. His cool stare was the result of his logical Vulcan mind. The small blood vessels in the whites of his eyes shone green and the pale hue of his skin was actually rather sickly.

She was asking for Spock to take full responsibility for their situation and she wasn't sure if that was fair on him or not, but that was the problem, wasn't it? That she was constantly going to act this way - guided often more by fickle emotion rather than logic and those emotions would not just be love and compassion, but also selfishness and jealousy. In other words, totally at odds with his cultural upbringing.

"What are feelings without emotions?" he finally replied and it was clear it was not a question he expected any reply to.

Uhura's brow creased as she let her confusion at his cryptic remark show. Spock chose to ignore that however and lifted his hand up to perform the Vulcan salute.

"I will see you next academic year. _Live long and prosper_," he said and although she had only just started studying the Vulcan language, the last sentence was clearly the traditional line that accompanied the gesture. Uhura returned the hand sign.

* * *

It had not been a warm parting, by any standards, but at least they were still on good terms. Uhura stood at the widow and watched spacecraft come and go. She didn't know which one Spock was on, there were so many leaving the station.

"Hey, where's Gaila?"

She spun round and found Tim walking towards her. He had obviously been rushing around, as he was breathing heavily and was sweating a bit too.

"I heard what happened and came here from Earth as fast as I could, as I couldn't get hold of her any other way," he said.

Uhura shook her head sadly and stepped away from the window, inviting Tim to look out.

"You're too late, Tim. She's on one of those ships right now, on her way back home."

"To Orion?" he asked.

Uhura nodded.

Tim was not one to waste any time. He turned straight away and started to run off towards the central corridor again.

"Thanks, I'll just have to make sure I catch the next ship to Orion then," he shouted back over his shoulder, a weak, but brave grin on his face.

The next time they would all see each other again would be in a few months, but it seemed there would not be a dearth of news to talk about when they got back from the long summer break. Uhura smiled to herself. Gaila had explained the need for the cage to her after the sucessful rescue. Apparently in such a situation Orion women could use pheromones to render men completley helpless. They'd be like butter in her hands and do whatever she wanted. No, she told herself, Gaila would not use that trick on Tim. While it seemed Gaila could have any man she wanted, she knew her friend well enough to know that a slave was not what her friend was looking for a in a man.

Uhura returned her gaze to the shuttlecraft and spaceships leaving the station. She hoped that next year things would be less dramatic and confusing. Hopefully Tim and Gaila would make up and finally become the couple they should be. As for her and Spock, she wished for a happy ending.

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed that chapter! :) Let me know if you did! I'm not sure I'm very good at action scenes, hehe! Will need to practice writing them more, I think!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I don't own startrek!_

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**Chapter 11 - Fast Forward**

The sun hung in the pure, blue sky like the raging ball of gas that it was. It shone down on Uhura without thought or concern for how its heat was causing her forehead to moisten. There was only the slightest breeze, but as it passed through the crowd and touched her she closed her eyes and focused on the welcome relief it brought from the searing temperature.

Once it had passed she opened her eyes again. Rows and rows of cadets were lined up in their best uniforms on the academy grounds in front of her. She was standing in a row, too, but it was part of a far smaller group off to one side; none of them any longer wearing the cadet uniform, but dressed in full officer's garb.

All flags were flying at half mast. She wanted to pay attention and listen to the ceremony, but her thoughts kept drifting and her eyes kept straying. She scanned the faces of her fellow officers and her gaze rested on Spock longer than on anyone else. After a while she realised that he was staring directly into the sun. Some at the academy said he didn't have feelings, but she knew otherwise. Uhura knew that he was hurting too, more than anyone else.

She focused on the ceremony once more as the head of Starfleet academy proceeded to read out loud the list of names. There were many familiar names, but she stared ahead, above the podium and into the sky.

"... Timothy Alec Gahallagher, Gaila of Orion, ..."

Until then she had been able to compose herself. However hearing their names read out loud felt like a cold, clawed hand had reached into her ribcage and was crushing her heart. She could no longer hold back the tears and the despair. Each tear that ran down her cheek caused at least another ten to form as the memories all assaulted her at once. Gaila had been the only one at the academy who had ever seen her cry. It seemed so long ago suddenly. She remembered the whole situation, how she had first met Spock and how Tim, her and Gaila had all become friends. For a while she was lost in her memories.

Uhura looked over towards Spock once more. He was still out-staring the sun. They had made it, her and Spock, despite the odds. Gaila's and Tim's relationship had been a lot more turbulent, though. Uhura knew they had been on the verge of working it all out so many times. Now they would never have the chance,... they were both dead. Now it was just her and Spock.

A whistle sounded to mark the end of the speeches and the crowd started to disperse. Uhura wiped the last of her tears away with her hand and glanced briefly up at the sun. When she looked down again, Spock was standing at her side, holding out his hand for her to take. Neither of them spoke, but she was eternally grateful for the comfort that simple touch offered as they walked towards the main academy buildings hand in hand.

* * *

_Right, part 2 is going to follow shortly. This is a bit of a break, because originally I ended it here because I was starting to lose the plot and inspiration. It had all just started off with me wanting to write one bar scene and possibly a bit more... but that was all more sketchy and was better in my mind than on paper. _

_A few of you convinced me to continue the story though._

_I did write and post chapters 12 to 14 here and I'm really sorry for anyone who already read them and wants to see them continued. I deleted them because they were incoherent, had lost the plot and weren't very inspired really, hehe! Believe me, it all made sense in my head - just not so much once I'd written it down I'm afraid._

_Sorry, I know it's annoying when writers go and change chapters they've already posted, yet alone delete them so that they can start again, but after some increadibly detailed and helpful feedback from **Hepburn **I realised that I had to go and change what I'd already written for lots and lots of reasons! I do want to improve as a writer, so I will be taking all the comments I've recieved into careful consideration. So please try and forget what you had already read! Tim's not going to such a complete prick, he'll be a lot more like he was in the previous chapters - our lovable idiot, trying far too hard to impress Gaila in all the wrong ways. Uhura will hopefully be a lot more in character, too, and Gaila and Tim's relationship might have a bit more of a future seeing as he's not going to go down the jerk route after all. As for people hoping Gaila will survive. I just don't see how. We see her assigned to one of the ships heading for Vulcan (and we know it's not the Enterprise) and every ship that gets there apart from the Enterprise. And, most telling of all, in my opinion - she had a thing with Kirk! Kirk's women _always _die, that's just the way it works in the Star Trek universe ;) ._


	12. Chapter 12

_Thank you for understanding my need for a complete re-write! :)_

_It might start out a bit like the previous chapter 12, but only for a few paragraphs, after that it's all new. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek_

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**Chapter 12: Introductions**

Uhura sat limply on a chair in her quarters. She had spent all of her energy that day being angry and trying her best not to show it. Starfleet command had ordered them to investigate the Vulcan black hole. They had arrived at its co-ordinates a few hours ago.

She glanced out of the window at the black hole that had become the mass grave of Spock's people. Uhura felt intensely for Spock; for the incredible loss he had suffered. She could only start to comprehend how he must feel.

It wasn't fair on Spock. It wasn't fair on anyone really, she thought. They had only been on a few missions since they had set out from Earth again; after the Enterprise had been fully repaired following Nero's attack. Only a few months had passed. It had not been long enough for anyone involved to sort through their feelings in their own time.

And now of all the ships in the fleet Starfleet command had chosen to send the Enterprise on this mission. They had been requested to take readings of the black hole's Hawking radiation in order to determine whether the Vulcan black hole would eventually lose all its mass again in the form of gamma rays and just dissipate or whether it would go on to devour nearby star systems and prove a future danger.

Against her will Uhura's eyes focused on the Vulcan black hole. So many of her friends had lost their lives here. Gaila and Tim. Tears stung her eyes. At least she was in the privacy of her own quarters. Better to remember and mourn them now than break down on the bridge, she thought. As she allowed the memories to flow freely, she found that she didn't feel like crying after all and instead a smile spread across her face. They had had a lot of good times together at the academy. It had certainly seldom been boring.

* * *

"The quantum mechanical description of the tunnelling process corresponds to the gamma rays occupying the classically forbidden regions, as you can tell from this diagram here," Professor Yelzin said whilst waving his hand at the large screen at the front of the lecture theatre.

"The wavefunction of the photon extends into it and so it is possible for tunnelling to occur."

Yelzin's Physics classes were quite basic and hardly exciting. This one on black holes was no different. By confusing his students with far too much maths, which he didn't explain very well, he managed to make a lecture on the most fear inspiring celestial bodies known to humankind as dull as watching paint dry. That didn't bother Uhura much, but the fact that the lecture was dull and incomprehensible was what was getting to her. She understood the concept of quantum tunnelling well enough, she would not have been able to pass the Academy entrance exam without an extensive knowledge of Physics. However she didn't understand how something could tunnel out of an infinite well and Yelzin wasn't helping her get her head around that problem at all. Unless of course it wasn't infinite...

She stared at the diagram again.

"I will prepare a handout with the derivations of the maths that we have just discussed, which you should be able to download from the system tomorrow. Please take a look at it. I do expect you to be able to replicate all of it."

Uhura's mood improved a bit. Yelzin's handouts were better than his lectures. She had tried to revise 'Foundations of Quantum Mechanics' that morning, just so that the basics would be fresh in her mind, but she hadn't really had enough time. It had all been such a rush. Yesterday evening she had arrived back at the Academy from the summer break and so she'd only just about had enough time to unpack and get herself organised before needing to sleep.

"Hey, I asked Tim to meet us in the main entrance hall so that we can go get lunch together," Gaila whispered to her. They always sat next to each other in lectures if at all possible.

"When did you find the time to arrange that?" she replied, keeping her voice low.

"While you were studying this morning," Gaila said, but stopped as Yelzin launched into further explanations of Hawking radiation.

Uhura gave Gaila an exasperated look. Her friend hadn't even been taking notes during the lecture, let alone spent any time studying before class.

"I already know all this stuff," Gaila explained during a pause in Yelzin's presentation.

"Lucky you," she replied and stared glumly ahead.

"Yelzin forgot to mention that the maths breaks down and is not actually valid when you try and trace the gamma ray's antiparticle, as that would assume that the concept of time has any meaning inside a black hole. So don't worry if it makes no sense," Gaila explained happily.

Uhura was thankful that she had friends to whom the laws of Physics made complete sense. She would have wasted hours trying to understand the maths blindly, without realising that it was just a crutch and not really applicable. Gaila and her made a good team. In return for help in Physics she often helped her friend with the crazy language that was Romulan (no fewer than five modi for verbs and the Dativus Absolutus was certainly not for the faint hearted!)

* * *

The main entrance hall at the Academy was packed with cadets leaving lectures. Everyone was busy chatting and catching up with each other. Eventually Gaila and Uhura spotted Tim. He was joking with Fred Durban, the sports society's captain. They walked across the hall to join Tim.

"... an' despite havin' tae divert off course to help the crew o' the _Newton _ma team mates an' I still managed second place in the Earth-Saturn space relay race," Durban said, rolling his r's perfectly, as the Scottish do.

"Impressive," Tim said, awe-struck.

"I take it you were piloting the craft, Fred? How exciting!" Gaila squealed.

Uhura watch Tim attempt to stand taller next to Durban. It was tragically comical, as Tim, who was not short by any standards, was nonetheless completely dwarfed by Durban, who was a good six foot twenty and very well built.

"I'm goin' tae have a party the likes o' whit haenee been seen yet at the Academy. Friday, ma place. Comin', Tim? O' course ye are! Ladies?"

Uhura didn't dislike Durban. The few times she had talked to him he had come across as a man of amazing abilities and talents. He wasn't exactly arrogant either, but he was certainly more brash and daring than most cadets. However the thought of watching Tim making a fool of himself again whilst trying to out-drink Durban didn't hold any appeal.

"I'm afraid I'm busy on Friday," she replied.

"So am I, but maybe we can go for lunch some time?" Gaila cut in.

If Tim's face had fallen any further they would have had to go looking for it in the cellar, Uhura thought.

"Tomorrow lunchtime?" Durban asked and Gaila nodded enthusiastically.

"See ye!" he said then and left.

"So, how were your holidays, Tim?" Gaila asked, her attention now completely on Tim.

The way she could switch her undivided attention from one person to the other so abruptly was jarring at the best of times and now it just created an long, awkward silence as Tim didn't reply straight away.

"Um, yeah, fine," he said eventually.

"Let's go grab lunch, shall we?" Uhura said and tried to steer the other two in the direction of the main doors.

"Hey, look over there!" Gaila said, pointing at a young Vulcan woman near the doors. Her hair was elaborately pinned up in a high, intricate style. She wore a long sleeved, high necked white dress that was beautifully embellished with geometric patterns in a shimmering thread.

"I wonder who she is. She's really beautiful," Uhura said.

"She is my wife," a quiet, cool voice said close to her ear. She nearly jumped, as she hadn't realised that Spock had walked up behind them. He gave a her a look. She wasn't sure how to interpret it. 'I'm sorry'? However, he didn't stop and walked on towards the Vulcan beauty.

She knew Gaila and Tim had also been privy to what he had said to her, because she could hear the sharp intake of Gaila's breath and Tim's expression changed to that of a stuffed chicken.

Uhura tried to get over her initial shock as quickly as possible. She had always known that it was a possibility he was going to chose to stick by his Vulcan traditions. Although she had been so sure of his resolve to end things with T'Pring, she shook her head to try and clear it of such thoughts. He was with her now by choice and she had to graciously accept that. She just wished he had told her privately rather than let her find out like this. Couldn't he have sent a subspace message? She swallowed. She wanted to be angry at Spock, but she knew that it wasn't like him to make someone feel bad on purpose. He was Vulcan. He'd just simply spent so much time ignoring and suppressing his emotions that he most likely had no idea how to be tactful towards her in regards to this situation.

Uhura knew that Gaila had almost certainly worked out what had happened between her and Spock on that last day of term, although she wasn't sure whether Tim knew or not. She made a conscious effort to straighten up. The others were still speechless and didn't look like they were going to move an inch, so once Spock and T'Pring had said their hellos she walked over to them. Tim and Gaila followed, drawn towards the Vulcan couple through sheer force of fascination.

She knew well that she was the kind of person who wore her emotions on her sleeve, but she hoped T'Pring would be as blind to them as Spock seemed to be. As she strode up to them, she decided her best tactic was simply to take the initiative before Spock could.

"T'Pring, isn't it?" she said. She still wanted to remain friends with Spock, so she was going to make an effort to help him out here, "I've heard so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Cadet Nyota Uhura."

She hoped it came across naturally. Generally she only used her last name within the Academy and Starfleet as she wanted to be taken seriously. She wanted to introduce herself not only as a cadet, though, but also make it clear that she was a friend of Spock's, so she had included her first name in the introduction. She didn't know if T'Pring would understand that, though. Uhura didn't have much time to mull over the finer details of what she had said any further though, as T'Pring brought her hand up in the Vulcan gesture of greeting.

"And I have heard so much about you, too," T'Pring said.

That was not the reply Uhura had been expecting and it momentarily rendered her speechless. T'Pring's level stare was unnerving. A cold knot was forming in her stomach. Of course, Spock wouldn't lie to her, would he? He was Vulcan after all. Lying wasn't logical.

Tim and Gaila were just acting like moths near a lamp, too stunned to do anything other than stare. Luckily Spock intervened. He proceeded to introduce both Gaila and Tim to T'Pring and then excused himself and the two of them left together.

"Are you ok?" Tim asked her, "You just looked a bit zoned out there. Mind you, I was also shocked. I didn't know he was married. He never told me."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, just lost in thought," Uhura replied.

"Let's just skip lunch and move straight onto desert. I'm thinking chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and ice cream for you," Gaila said and squeezed Uhura's hand.

* * *

_Well, I'm happy with this chapter! So I hope you all enjoyed reading it! :) And it did add a bit of extra info about the T'Pring situation at least ;)_


	13. Chapter 13

_Thank you all so much for your comments! I really appreciate them all! :-)_

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Star Trek_

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**Chapter 13: Lunchtime talks**

Tim, Gaila and Uhura all sat down to eat their sandwiches (or deserts, as the case may be) in the Academy mess hall. Gaila had succeeded in loading up Uhura's plate with sweet cakes and chocolate, the very sight of which was now making Uhura feel somewhat nauseous.

"I'll be honest, I'm very confused," Tim said to Uhura, "I honestly didn't know he was married and I really thought you and Spock..."

Gaila shut him up with a sharp look.

Uhura decided to study the chocolate on her plate, as she thought about what to say. Since she was going to tell Gaila what had happened, she might as well let Tim in on it all. He was undoubtedly going to find out from Gaila anyway, she concluded.

"Well, Tim, I don't think any of us knew about her. I only found out at the end of last term, after the leaving party," Uhura said.

She picked up a chocolate muffin and waved it around demonstratively, "Spock wasn't quite acting himself due to the chocolate."

Did she detect just a hint of shame and regret on Tim's cheeks? Uhura put the muffin back on her plate carefully.

"I kissed him and it lead to more. I don't think I have to spell it out to you," she said hurridly, "And the following morning, once the chocolate had worn off, that's when he told me about T'Pring."

"Why did he never tell us before though?" Gaila asked.

"The Vulcan concept of marriage is different from ours. I tried to do some research on it, but there is very little in the federation records actually," she paused to eat a bit of chocolate and collect her thoughts.

"It was an arranged marriage. Spock told me they were married at the age of seven. But he also said that they still had one more 'marriage' ceremony to go through with. I suppose we would call the first one a betrothal and the second one the actual marriage, but the first one is in fact legally binding under Vulcan law. So technically he is right to call her his wife," she said.

"But they're more kind of ... engaged?" Gaila said.

"Well, as I said, I tried to do some research to understand what Spock had told me better. There are a few entries, but they appear as if the writers themselves had heavily restrained themselves in deference to the Vulcan culture of extreme privacy. Most of what I found Spock had already told. There was one text, though, which suggested that the children are somehow bonded to each other telephatically. It all suggests that it really is a lot more than simply being engaged," Uhura replied.

"Um, I hate to interrupt here," Gaila said, "But really, you're talking about this so calmly. I wouldn't know if I could do the same. Look, we can't really compare Vulcan culture to what we know. I mean, I certainly can't imagine just for one second going along with some marriage my parents had arranged for me," Gaila said, shaking her head, "But they don't care about love or anything like that, obviously. No emotions, only logic. That's the foundation of their culture, isn't it? I suppose to make sure no one can be accused of being emotional they have arranged marriages."

Gaila started laughing quietly. Uhura assumed it was at the absurdity of Vulcan culture. When she spotted Tim trying to suppress a laugh too, she couldn't help herself and a grin spread across her face too. It was good to talk to friends.

Once Tim had left she was free to chat to Gaila about a few of the finer details of the conversations Spock and her had had on the issue of T'Pring. Gaila was a good listener and it felt good just to get it all out. Once she had laid out all the facts for Gaila she found it easier to analyse them herself. They both agreed that it had sounded like Spock was going to end things with T'Pring. But then everyone is allowed a change of mind of course, and Uhura had given him the time and space he needed over the summer to sort things out on Vulcan. Which had left her not knowing what was going on as Spock hadn't contacted her. She was going to ask him about that issue as soon as she had the chance to. Not accusingly, though, of course.

"I mean, it's obvious that he told her about me, so maybe they only just sorted things out recently. Or maybe they still haven't. It's hard to tell with Vulcans," she said to Gaila, prodding her chocolate cake.

"It is," Gaila agreed and hugged her friend.

"Well, enough about me and my problems," Uhura said, after she disentangled herself from Gaila's green embrace, "What about you and Tim? I saw him on the spacestation last, but you had already left for home."

"After that incident with the Syndicate talking to Tim was the last thing on my mind. I just wanted to get home and back to my family," Gaila explained, "So his timing was not exactly what you would call amazing. We did kind of sort things out in a few subspace communications. I really don't know where we stand right now, though. He's so immature and although we said then that we were going to give 'us' a try, well, I didn't hear from him again during the summer. So we haven't talked about it since. He didn't try and take my hand on the way here to lunch, either."

"Well, you had just asked Durban out on a date!" Uhura exclaimed.

Gaila took a sip of her juice before continuing, "True. Fair point. I suppose the problem is that I really don't know if I want to be in a relationship with Tim or not."

Then Gaila started laughing, and tried not to choke on her orange juice, "And here I go! Earlier I was making fun of Vulcans for being so damned logical instead of emotional and now listen to me! I was just about to start debating the pros and cons of going out with Tim."

Uhura grinned, "I suppose some times it's not easy to follow your heart when you're a thinker. And let's face it, here at the Academy most of us are."

"It's just that Tim lacks confidence. He's a good guy really. He was very worried about Spock once he realised that Spock really wasn't taking well to the chocolate. Tim didn't find it as hilarious as he thought he would. I told him Spock would be fine because you were with him. And I thought it would be good for you two to spend some time together, I didn't know...," Gaila trailed off.

"No, neither did I, of course," Uhura reminded her friend.

"Well, now we are in second year. I am glad Tim made it, you know. I didn't think he would with his grades. You know he was a less than perfect student. He has some talent, I suppose, but it is limited. He got here more through sheer will and determination. I think he just wanted to escape home, or possibly Earth in general," Gaila said and stole a piece of chocolate cake off Uhura's plate. Uhura was quite grateful for that, as her plate was still piled high with the sickly sweet stuff.

"I have a feeling that he failed the entrance exam a few times before he eventually made it in," Gaila continued, "Once here the workload seems light at first, because they don't push you much. You are meant to push yourself and work of your own accord. However he was following the lead of the sports' captain, but without possessing the same brilliance. Durban basically reintroduced all those drinking traditions after coming over from studying at Edinburgh. He's really smart, I tell you. He was one of their best graduates. Did two degrees at once – mathematics and xeno-linguistics!"

"You like him, don't you?" Uhura teased, remembering their earlier encounter with Royden in the hallway.

"Well, he's different from Tim. I find his bar antics equally unimpressive, but at least he can handle it. He told me that where he's from it's normal to have fun like that. But for Tim and all the others who are trying to imitate Durban, well, I think they are just doing it out of lack of self-esteem and out of hero worship. It's not who they really are and they probably don't even think it's that much fun," Gaila said, whilst shaking her head sadly at the situation.

Uhura was quite impressed at Gaila's analysis, "Well, you've learnt a lot about humans and about the different cultures on Earth! Oh, this talk of drunken bar nights reminds me of something that happened over the summer during a practical training mission I went on with Pike."

She related the tale of her encounter with Kirk at the bar in Iowa to Gaila.

Her friend laughed, "Oh, I'd like to meet him!"

"I thought you might say something like that," Uhura replied, she was about to say more but fell silent when she saw Spock enter the mess hall.

Gaila turned around in her seat to take a look at what had caught Uhura's attention.

"Where's the missus?" Gaila asked.

"I can't see her," Uhura said and at that moment Spock spotted them and started to walk towards them.

As he walked up to them, Uhura admired how composed and confident he appeared. And so it was quite a shock when he suddenly halted and stiffened up. For a moment there he looked almost panicked, Uhura mused. She followed his gaze. Ah, the chocolate, she realised. Although they had demolished almost half a plate of the stuff, there was still quite enough there to intoxicate half of Vulcan.

Spock recovered quickly, but she noted that he didn't come any closer.

He clasped his hands behind his back and nodded towards them.

Gaila nudged her in the ribs and hissed, "Go, on. It's clear he wants to talk to you. Don't put this off, go and listen to what he's got to say."

Then Gaila turned back towards Spock and flashed him one of her big smiles.

Uhura carefully wiped her hands and mouth with a serviette to remove all the offending chocolate before walking over to Spock's side.

* * *

_Sorry that took so long! I was busy getting a sun tan at the beach :-P - well, that and preparing Physics lessons. I'm not good explaining what's obvious to me, hehe!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek_

_Thank you all so much for your reviews! They really motivate me to keep writing. Special thanks again to Hepburn! :-D_

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**Chapter 14: The Situation**

Uhrua and Spock walked out of the mess hall together in silence. She followed him as he led her into the Academy gardens. They walked quite a way, past the raised flower beds and on to a tree lined path. Still, he didn't talk. They drew nearer and nearer to the main Academy buildings once more, without having said anything. As they passed the bench where she had sat with Spock whilst he tried to recover from the chocolate she realised she would have to be the one to speak first.

"So, you told her about me?" she said whilst staring up at a fluffy white cloud in the sky.

"Yes, of course. It was only logical to, how else could I discuss the situation with her?" he asked.

Uhura shook her head and a small smile crept across her face, "That is the beauty and simplicity of a Vulcan relationship, isn't it? No real arguments. You just lay out the facts and draw rational conclusions, so there is never any disagreement."

Uhura stopped walking, as they were now within sight of the department again. She looked into his face so that she could see into his eyes properly, "You're my friend, Spock. And I am sorry if I have put you in a difficult situation with T'Pring. I didn't intend for anyone to get hurt."

She couldn't see any change in his serious expression. He's hiding behind some damned mask, she thought.

"Look, I know you have emotions. You've told me that you do. So don't pretend to me that Vulcans don't have emotions, ok?" she said with not a small amount of anger in her voice.

He nodded.

"I will tell you about my emotions then."

She stared up at him with her large brown eyes. His features softened.

"I still have feelings for you. I care about you," he said gently.

That was not what Uhura had expected to hear him say.

"Spock," she said quietly and averted her eyes. Before she could think of an adequate reply he continued.

"And it seems that my emotions for you are clouding my judgement. T'Pring's logic has always been impeccable. Therefore I must trust her reasoning regarding this situation."

Uhura bit her lip. There was one question she suddenly wanted to ask but knew she shouldn't. She looked up at his face again. As her gaze met his she couldn't help but ask him whether he loved T'Pring or not.

"No, I don't," Spock answered simply.

"But," he added.

She held her breath, waiting for him to continue. He didn't.

Uhura closed her eyes and took a deep lung full of air. When she opened her eyes again Spock was gazing intently at her.

"Why are you telling me all this? T'Pring is here and you introduced her as your wife. That means you two are still set for a future together," she said.

Now it was Spock's turn to break their eye contact and look away.

Uhura didn't want to make things difficult again for Spock. The thought of him marrying someone he didn't love was hard for her to accept, though. To her that just didn't make any sense. She couldn't really comprehend the Vulcan logic behind it.

Spock looked like he wanted to say something, but at that moment the two of them were interrupted. Uhura watched as T'Pring strode towards the two of them from the Department building. No, she corrected herself, strode was the wrong word to use. She was simply walking towards them calmly. There was no emotion in her walk, however much she tried to project some into her movements. In a sense Uhura wished that T'Pring would act in anger or out of jealousy. She realised that was an irrational wish that neither Vulcan would understand, but nonetheless she found herself despairing at their lack of consideration for their own emotional wellbeing. Were they really able to suppress their feelings so much that they weren't affected by them in the least and could safely ignore them so completely?

"Cadet Uhura," T'Pring said formally in greeting, "I am afraid to cut your conversation short. However Spock and I have an appointment now at the Vulcan embassy. It is a shame I have not had time to talk to you or Spock's other friends. I do want to learn and understand more about humans. Spock is half human after all. Maybe we could all go for lunch together? I will be here again in two days time."

Uhura started to nod in agreement to give herself an extra few seconds to find her voice, "Yes, that sounds good. I will ask Tim and Gaila. There are some restaurants just off campus where we could eat."

"Then all is agreed," T'Pring said and her and Spock said theirs goodbyes to Uhura before leaving.

* * *

The atmosphere in the library was cool and pleasant. Apart from Gaila and Tim no one was talking.

"Look, if we just reserve this one between the two of us, the librarian is less likely to object than if we took over two desks," Tim said.

"Tim's right, you know," Uhura cut in. She didn't like to interfere when those two were having an argument, but she also didn't want them to be late for their lunch with T'Pring and Spock, as much as she was dreading it.

Gaila sighed, "I'm sure they say that they are going to crack down on people hogging desks every year, and I bet they never do anything about it."

"You could just not reserve one at all," Uhura said.

Tim shook his head, "That's what I said last year. That I didn't need to reserve a desk for myself in the library this early on, there'd be plenty of space here to study come exam time. But believe me, there wasn't! Every desk was reserved!"

"I didn't study in the library for my exams and that didn't affect my grades," Uhura replied tersely, "Although it would have been easier for me if every desk here hadn't been 'reserved' on the few occasions I did come here."

"Gaila, look, if we get two desks now, it's going to be really obvious. No one else is reserving desks yet. Let's just get one for now," Tim said, turning back to Gaila.

In the end they agreed and both of them left various old items of clothing, PADDs and holo-images of their family and friends scattered on the desk and its accompanying chair.

"There," Gaila said admiring their handiwork, "Now this desk is clearly in use, just waiting for someone to return form a short study break, and we will always have a place to study here."

The other desks on this floor of the library were all clear and unoccupied. It was well known that people lived in the library during exam period, though. They had pictures of their family on the wall near 'their' desk, and, a few weeks before finals, a few toothbrushes and pillows would appear too. Cadets slept in the library and recently they had voted to have a shower room installed instead of a second common room, so that they could truly study 24 hours a day.

"Speaking of study breaks, shouldn't we be leaving now?" Tim said.

Uhura laughed, "That's what I've been trying to say for the last half hour. Now let us hurry. We're going to meet at _La Cantina_ in about twenty minutes."

Gaila squeezed her arm, "Don't be nervous, I'm sure it'll all be just fine. And I love _La Cantina_! Italian food really is the best Earth-food. I went there with Durban, they have a nice outside seating area. We should sit there, as it's in the sunshine. Oh, where's Tim gone?"

"Did you have to mention your date with Durban in front of him?" she asked.

"What? You think I want to be with Tim if he doesn't even like me enough to try and take me on a better date than Durban did? Tim's not shown me that he really cares about me. Anyone can walk out of a room in a huff, that's easy. I suppose I want to know I'm worth fighting over," Gaila said with a shrug.

Uhura's thoughts turned to Spock. She was aware that Gaila might be trying to tell her something.

"Come on, let's go catch up with Tim," Gaila said, pulling on her arm.

* * *

_Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, the next one is on its way! _


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: damnit, still don't own star trek :(_

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**Chapter 15: Pizza**

As the three friends made their way through the Academy grounds towards the Italian restaurant _La Cantina_ the sun shone down on Uhura mercilessly. She felt very uncomfortable in her uniform. Although, she thought, at least now she finally understood the state of mind a certain fashion designer had been in when she had come up with the pattern for the Starfleet 'mini-skirt' uniform.

She looked over at her friend Gaila, who didn't look anywhere near as bothered as she did.

"Hmmm, what's up?" her friend asked.

"I was thinking about what you said earlier," Uhura finally said in a quiet voice, when Tim was out of earshot for a moment.

Gaila looked at her friend and gave her a sad smile.

"I know this isn't an easy situation for you," she replied sympathetically.

The closer they got to the restaurant the surer Uhura was of her feelings for Spock; of how much he meant to her. He had told her that he still had feelings for her and she hadn't replied, had she? Oh, why hadn't she? She cursed herself. It was slowly dawning on her that it must have been quite an act for him to admit to any such illogical emotions.

Still, it wasn't too late to tell him how she felt, only a few days had passed after all.

They turned up at the restaurant a few minutes early, and no sooner had they been shown to a large table outdoors when Spock and T'Pring arrived.

As they were all exchanging their customary greetings Uhura noticed instantly that Spock had completely retreated behind a mask of control for this lunch. He reminded her of a porcelain statue with his pale white skin. Spock moved with such a calculated grace, every movement, even his facial ones, were deliberate. She had never seen Spock look so Vulcan before and although he projected no outward emotions, she found the fact that he felt the need to compose himself like this more telling than anything else.

Once they had all taken their seats T'Pring immediately started to look over the menu.

"I do not understand what any of this food is," she said eventually, "What should I order?"

"The steaks here are good," Tim suggested.

"I think the Pizza Giardiniera might be a more appropriate choice," Gaila cut in, with a smile.

"All Vulcans are vegetarian, not just Spock," Uhura whispered to Tim.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot," he said quickly.

"Spock, what will you be eating?" T'Pring asked.

"I will be ordering a pizza, but you may prefer pasta..," he started to say, but T'Pring interrupted.

"Why would I? Surely if you are going to order pizza for yourself, then it must be agreeable to the Vulcan palate."

Spock didn't answer straight away. It seemed he was at a loss for words.

"I will order pizza then," T'Pring said.

Spock eventually nodded in agreement, "Yes, it probably is the better choice, if you wish to experience more of human culture. I have observed that pizza is an incredibly popular dish on Earth."

"Then it will be ideal," she replied.

So when their waiter came to take their order the only item left to decide on was the matter of what to drink. In the end T'Pring ordered a cola on Tim's recommendation. Spock, however, decided on a bottle of mineral water.

"I have learnt that it is customary to specialise at the Academy. What is your area of expertise, Tim?" T'Pring asked.

"Oh, right, well, all of us here apart from Spock have specialised in xeno-linguistics. That's how we came to know each other so well, as there aren't that many linguists at the Academy," Tim replied.

"Is Standard your first language?" she enquired further.

"Yeah, it is," Tim said.

"Is it not interesting how Standard has been taken up differently on those Federation planets which have mandated that it become an official language?" T'Pring asked.

Tim's face took on a carefully blank expression, so T'Pring simply continued, "Such as on Vulcan, for example. All children grow up having to learn both Vulcan and Standard, so it would be impossible to have native speakers tutor all Vulcans. As a result we have developed habits when talking Standard that humans do not share."

Uhura found herself nodding, "Such as avoiding the use of contractions."

"Precisely," T'Pring said.

"Or the preference of Vulcans to use the longest word possible when a short one would have done the trick," Gaila added.

Uhura tensed for a moment, but neither T'Pring nor Spock seemed put out by her sarcastic tone.

"Andorians, too," Gaila said, her voice chatty and friendly once again.

"They also never make a mistake in their grammar, but they retain the turns of phrases and the symbolism of the Andorian language. In that sense Vulcans are far easier to understand. On Orion it isn't normal to learn Standard and so I actually learnt from a human tutor."

"Indeed, the Vulcan language itself was purged of all obscure phrases and analogies a few centuries ago, in an effort to make it more logical," Spock said, finally joining the conversation.

A debate on the extent of the impact the introduction of Standard had had on other native languages followed, in which Uhura explained how her mother tongue Kiswahili was now slowly fading from common use.

Then the drinks arrived. T'Pring took a careful, delicate sip of her cola.

"Humans find this taste agreeable?" she asked Tim.

Uhura noticed that Gaila could barely contain her amusement and then she found that she too had to work hard to supress a mischievous grin. Tim, who had appeared to be intimidated by T'Pring from the outset, started to apologise profusely, and very clumsily, for suggesting the drink in the first place.

Spock passed her his glass of water.

"I had good reason to order a whole bottle," he said, carefully raising an eyebrow. However it wasn't accompanied by a slight upturn of the corners of his mouth, as it might have been, had it been just the four of them.

After that T'Pring steered the conversation towards a discussion of the major characteristics and oddities of human behaviour and quizzed Tim extensively on these.

"My visit to Earth has definitely allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of how alien this world is. Not just of how unfamiliar Earth is, with its blue sky and vast oceans, but also the culture of its inhabitants," T'Pring concluded.

"Of course, Spock is half-human, so I already knew how emotional humans could be. His human side means that his logic can be clouded by emotion on occasion, such as when he rejected his place at the Vulcan Science Academy."

"And emotions are a bad thing, are they?" Gaila said, still smiling. However, Uhura thought that it might have been possible to split a hair with the razor sharp edge in her friend's voice. T'Pring either didn't notice or simply didn't care.

"I do not recall making any such claim," she said evenly, in the same tone of voice she had used throughout. Her control and poise really were admirable, Uhura thought.

At this point a waiter arrived with their food, however Gaila continued to glare at T'Pring. Once the waiter had left again, Spock turned to Gaila.

"Vulcans do not think of emotions as 'bad' or 'evil'. They are simply seen as part of our biological nature," he explained.

"Control of the rational mind over every other aspect of Vulcan nature is imperative," T'Pring said, "Without it we are simply Romulans. And even the darkest moments of humanity are eclipsed by the death and destruction my own species is capable of without the guidance of logic."

Uhura inhaled sharply and she saw Gaila and Tim's eyes go wide too.

"You have to excuse us," Uhura said quickly, "But I don't think any of us ever thought we would hear a Vulcan say this. Since we have all studied the Romulan language, we are aware of the similarities between the two races and their common origin, but it didn't seem to be an association Vulcans liked to make."

"Indeed? Then I would question the emotional bias of those who write your textbooks. It is not logical to deny a link as evident as the one that exists between Vulcans and Romulans," she said.

It seemed Spock had not been exaggerating when he had called T'Pring's logic impeccable. She was probably highly respected for it on Vulcan and Uhura had to admit, her own respect for T'Pring was growing, too. However, that didn't mean that she was warming to the other woman. She was still aware of the earlier dig she had made about Spock's emotional side and wondered if she thought of him as inferior, or possibly even slightly Romulan, because of it.

"Human history is fascinating, though," T'Pring continued, "There are chapters in human history that are very disturbing to read. Although never on the same scale as Romulan atrocities, the disregard for other life forms humans show time and again, continuing up to the present day, is incomprehensible to me."

Tim froze mid action, a bloody bit of steak half way to his mouth.

T'Pring chose to ignore this, "And yet, we have managed to not only avoid conflict between our races, but Earth played a crucial role in the formation the United Federation of Planets, which has brought much needed peace and stability to this part of the galaxy."

"So you admit emotions can lead to good things," Gaila interrupted. A triumphant smile crept over her face, "You know, I think it was good that Spock chose Starfleet, for example."

Spock leant back in his chair and looked between Gaila and T'Pring. His face was unreadable. Uhura was relieved that Gaila was helping her out and saying what she didn't dare say. However, she did wish her friend would be slightly less confrontational. She squeezed Gaila's hand beneath the table.

"Again, I find that you are making baseless assumptions and, possibly, wilfully misunderstanding the comments I have made so far. Is this a trait particular to Orions?" T'Pring said. The temperature at the table seemed to drop to a few degrees below zero, despite the warm sunshine.

"Regardless of what Spock's reasons were at the time, emotional or cerebral, I agree that joining Starfleet was a good decision for him to have made," T'Pring stated finally.

Uhura heard the collective exhaling of air from the cadet side of the table. She had been holding her breath too without even realising it. Gaila sank back into her chair, slightly deflated.

T'Pring turned to Spock and addressed him, rather than Gaila, "You are unique, Spock. There is no one else you can look to for guidance on how your physiology will affect your life. It is my understanding that the Vulcan Science Academy would never forgive you if you ever let your emotions influence your reasoning. Your career there would instantly be over. Starfleet place a high value on logic and reasoning, but would be more accommodating towards any emotional bias you might experience."

Spock's features didn't change. He was still wearing that damned mask she so hated. Uhura remembered well how bitter Spock had been when he'd talked about his father's reaction to him joining Starfleet. As unapproachable and stiff as T'Pring seemed to her, nevertheless, it appeared that she was far more understanding towards him than others Vulcans.

She hardly paid attention to the rest of the conversation, lost in her own thoughts. T'Pring had gone back to interrogating Tim about various aspects of humanity.

Soon they had all finished their meals and the waiters had arrived again to clear the table of their plates.

"T'Pring and I have an announcement to make," Spock said. He sat up straighter in his chair and leant forward slightly, "We will be making the journey to Vulcan during half term for the ceremony of koon-ut, a Vulcan marriage ceremony."

"I have done some reading into human traditions," T'Pring said.

"Since Spock is half human and has chosen to serve Starfleet and live amongst humans, I think it is only right if some Earth traditions are also honoured. It seems for human weddings a wedding party is required. So I invite you all to join us on our journey."

For a moment Uhura thought she saw a crack appear in Spock's otherwise flawlessly neutral expression. For a moment he appeared to be... suprised, she decided.

A sense of dizzines overcame Uhura, which deadened her senses somewhat. She could hear Tim express his longing and excitement at being able to leave Earth and set foot on Vulcan, but to her it felt as if the whole scene in front of her was taking place a thousand miles away. After a while she noticed that Spock was staring at her intently. She met his gaze. It was unreadable. She knew her own was very much an open book, though, and that what Spock was reading there right now was shock, typed out in capital letters, underlined and in bold.

* * *

_That was quite a long update, but when I first wrote it it was faaaaar too long. This is the short version of the lunch conversation, hehe! Hope you all liked it! :-)_


	16. Chapter 16

_Author's note: I don't own Star Trek_

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**Chapter 16: love something**

The doors to Uhura and Gaila's quarters closed with a quiet swish. Uhura jumped onto her bed straight away, still wearing her uniform and sighed with relief.

"I am so glad this day is finally over," she said lying down, "I think I might have come close to throttling Tim at one point. I just wish I could be as excited as he is about travelling to Vulcan."

"I'm sure you would be looking forward to such a trip if the circumstances were different," her room mate replied, while taking off her boots.

"Look, I can see that you are mortified by this whole situation and believe me, I'm not the biggest fan of T'Pring either, if you hadn't noticed. I can't stand her. I don't want to get to know her better, I already know that we will never get along. She is just so... perfect in her looks, perfect in her logic and she just pisses me off. I bet she doesn't have an ounce of compassion or love in her!"

Uhura smiled, "Gaila, really, I'm ok. I don't need the whole 'let's bitch about the other woman' thing."

"Oh yes you do! The food hadn't even arrived yet and I'd already decided that she was a stone cold bitch and that her and I will never get along. I can count the things we have in common on the fingers of one hand. We're both female, humanoid, have green blood, oh, and that's about it," Gaila said. She took off her uniform jacket and threw it into a corner of the room.

Uhura's smile widened and became a grin.

"Ah ha! See, it does help to complain about her! I'll go on then!," Gaila exclaimed in triumph.

"What annoyed me most about her, was the way she was studying Tim like he was an insect," Gaila said. She had climbed up onto her bed too now.

"Really? Are we possibly getting down to the real reason why you can't stand her?" Uhura teased.

"Shut up, you!" Gaila said playfully, "But, seriously. It was an interrogation. She didn't subject you or me to that, only him. I'm thinking she wanted to find out about human males, since Spock is half human. She was conducing a bloody scientific investigation during lunch! I don't think she really likes humans and their culture as much as she pretends. Did you see the way she picked at that pizza?"

"At least she nearly choked to death on the ice cream I ordered her for desert. I knew it would be too bloody cold for a Vulcan," Gaila said looking smug.

Uhura couldn't help but burst out laughing. She was very glad for Gaila's company right now, she knew it would have been awful to have to go through this alone.

"Don't worry, it's ok to hate her! I do!" Gaila continued.

Once both of them had stopped laughing and had just lain on their beds in silence for a while, Uhura's thoughts did turn to the more serious matter of whether to, as her room mate would put it, fight for Spock or not.

"Gaila?" she said.

"Hmmm...?"

"We slept together months ago, that is all that has happened between us, if I look at things objectively. We might make a terrible couple for all I know! I can't be selfish and think of myself here and what I might lose, that would be completely unfair. This has to be about Spock."

Both of them stared up at the ceiling for a while longer. Uhura was thankful that her room mate understood she had simply been thinking out loud.

"She is the perfect wife for Spock in almost every way, I see that now. Their parents chose well. But he doesn't love her. That is something they couldn't foresee, Gaila. I wonder how she feels about him. What if they can never find any emotional raport? If love doesn't normally feature in Vulcan marriages though, if it's not part of their culture, what right do I have to interfere and to judge them on the basis of my own value system?" Uhura said.

Gaila was silent for a long time.

"Spock and I are not that dissimilar in many respects," Gaila finally said.

Uhura turned over on her side, so that she was now facing her room mate.

"Spock and I are the only ones from our respective home worlds to serve in Starfleet. We both gave up a lot to come here," Gaila said and suddenly got up out of bed and walked towards the window. The sun had only just set and the stars were not very bright yet, but Gaila still looked up at them.

"I don't think that either of us, if given the chance, would undo the choices we have made that led us here. But there are those times, every now and again, when we might wish we could. It's not easy. I can never go back home and live a normal life. I am ostracised forever from Orion society. I am a Federation spy. I am a traitor. Even my own family don't want me to visit again after what happened in the aftermath of the hostage taking. I couldn't walk anywhere without the protection of my household's own armed guards," she said.

Uhura walked up to her friend and put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"It's ok," Gaila said and turned around. Her voice was suddenly cheery again and her usual smile was back in place, "It is done, all my ties to my home-world are cut forever. For me there is no going back. But Spock still has that link, that option that I no longer have, in his marriage to T'Pring. Spock is not in an easy position right now and I know you understand that. That's why you told him not to break things off with T'Pring because of you and why you gave him time to see if he could sort things out with her over the summer, isn't it? And you told me when you walked together that you didn't want to reply when he told you that he cared for you. Same reasons?"

Uhura nodded. Gaila hugged her friend, "You're being very considerate. When you recounted to me that he had actually told you the other day that he had feelings for you, I thought that was the Vulcan equivalent of declaring his undying love for you. I still think it might have been."

Gaila paused and looked Uhura directly in the eye, "If it's any consolation, I don't know what I would do either if I were in your position, because I don't understand Vulcans. It's as impossible for me to get inside their minds as it is for one of them to understand me. But now I remember that he did introduce her right from the start as his wife and having seen them together at lunch..., well they certainly do seem set for a future together and I don't think I'd ever appreciated the extent to which Vulcan lives are governed by logic. Vulcans don't work on emotions. He might have feelings for you that are deeper than the ocean and yet it might never even cross his mind to act on them. I'm sorry, I'm not being much help, am I?"

"No, you're a great help, Gaila," Uhura replied, a note of determination creeping into her voice, "And I think I know what it is that I have to do now."

"What's that?" Gaila asked.

Uhura leapt over to their communications terminal and opened a character document. No, too impersonal, she thought. Finally she found what she was looking for. She placed a white sheet of drawing paper and her pen and ink set on the table. Gaila had followed her to the table and pulled up a chair next to her friend.

"I'm going to write him a letter," Uhura explained, "What you said just then really struck a cord."

"Which bit?" Gaila asked.

"When you told me that he might love me yet that it might never even enter his mind to act on the basis of those feelings," she replied.

Uhura dipped her pen into the ink.

"What are you going to write?" Gaila said softly.

"Well, I don't know and may never know for sure why he wanted me to know how much I meant to him, if he wanted to run away from T'Pring with me or not, but regardless... he felt it was important to let me know how he felt; to let me know that he did care about me. And so I will do the same for him. I will tell him how deep my feelings for him are and let him know that he will always have a special place in my heart for as long as I live, whatever happens. I will wish him and T'Pring well," she said, putting pen to paper, "And that I hope our friendship will never end."

Gaila squeezed her hand and nodded in approval.

* * *

_As always, I'd love to know what you all think! It was increadibly interesting to read all your different takes on T'Pring last time! :-D_


	17. Chapter 17

_Author's note: I don't own Star Trek_

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**Chapter ****17: The After-Party**

The main dining hall at the Academy had been transformed for the party. Tables had been moved, a small podium quickly erected and the canteen had become a bar. Champagne flutes graced the white clothed tables. Uhura had received an invitation to the event from Spock. He had received a promotion that day, along with a few others, Durban amongst them, and the after party celebration was now in full swing.

That is to say, a lot of bubbly and wine had been consumed, especially by the high ranking officers who were all having a great time, whilst the few cadets present were as yet unsure as to whether they were also allowed to have fun or not.

"Are you sure this dress doesn't clash with my green skin?" Gaila whispered to Uhura as she tried to spot their friends in the crowd.

"Yes, yes, it looks just fine," Uhura replied.

"I'm sorry I made us late," Gaila said, "but for some reason none of my clothes seemed to look right on me today and I wanted to look good tonight. Durban invited me to this reception after all!"

"It's ok," Uhura said, her voice suddenly turning soft, "I'm sorry I've not exactly been the best of company recently."

Soon they spotted T'Pring and Spock standing with Captain Pike, Durban and a few officers on the other side of the hall.

"Hey you two," Durban said as they joined the group. Gaila got a hug and kisses on both cheeks from him, Uhura noted.

"Gaila, I'll be back in a bit," he continued, "I've just got tae run over and say hello tae Professor Chuha."

There were a few other officers standing with them, not all of whom Uhura recognised. She recognised Professor Haldane and the blond middle aged woman was most likely Captain Mathers, she thought, but she wasn't too sure who the small brunette with the curly hair next to her was. They were all congratulating Spock on his promotion, but above all they seemed curious about T'Pring.

Gaila and the brunette greeted each other very warmly. And whilst Gaila introduced her to Uhura as Commander Huxley, her new personal tutor, Captain Pike had gone off to get them all a glass of champagne each.

"Because we have to have a toast," he said, grinning.

"To the finest Vulcan officer under my command," he said laughing, "and to his beautiful wife, soon to be his... eh... wife."

They all, that is to say all the humans, laughed and drank to this and the captain continued, "I really should have consulted Admiral T'Pol first, shouldn't I? Then I would have got the toast right, but no matter that the Vulcan doesn't translate well, I understand that this will mean a strengthening of your existing bond. And that is something to celebrate."

Pike took another, rather large, sip of champagne.

"You Vulcans are damned private people I've come to learn. How long have I known you now, Spock? Quite a few years and in all that time you've never told me about her," Pike said, pointing an accusing finger at Spock.

"Although," he turned to address T'Pring, Uhura and the officers before Spock could reply, "I remember a young Vulcan cadet, who, during his exams, just ran off back to Vulcan! 'Personal reasons' is all that it says on his Starfleet record, but I know better."

He turned back to Spock, "I wouldn't let you mess up your career for no good reason so I didn't want to let you leave at first. All you would say is that it was a 'private Vulcan matter'. Then I finally squeezed it out of you that it was because of some woman. Now, I still didn't allow you to leave of course, but the next day you were gone anyway. Just like that!"

Pike laughed hard and winked at T'Pring. Haldane and the other officers chucked at the thought of Spock running off and abandoning his exams for any reason, let along because of a woman.

Pike slapped Spock on the back, "I had to pull a fair few strings to get them to allow you to take the re-sit exams for full credit, but your record was flawless so I was able to sort it all out in the end. Still, I never got a full explanation from you. But I take it that this is the lovely lady you went back to Vulcan for?"

"Yes," Spock replied. The tone of his reply could have frozen a supernova mid-way through explosion.

"Ah, well, nice to meet you at last," Pike said cordially to T'Pring, a broad smile on his face.

Pike's warm expression failed to illicit any change in T'Pring's icy features.

"How long are you staying, T'Pring? It's such a shame we've only had a few short chats and haven't really got to know each other yet. Vulcan culture really is fascinating," Commander Huxley said cheerfully. Gaila stood by her tutor's side and forced a fake smile onto her face.

"Originally I was to leave here in a week's time to travel back to Vulcan with Spock, but my temporary assignment here at the Vulcan embassy has been cut short. I am required to return to Vulcan tomorrow as my help is required there on another, more urgent project," T'Pring replied.

Uhura felt Gaila move swiftly to her side. The Orion women grabbed her wrist and squeezed it. So finally T'Pring was leaving, even if they would have to see her again in a week for the wedding. She felt ashamed to admit that she was as thankful as Gaila was to hear the news.

"Oh, that won't do! We've got so much to talk about!" Captain Mathers said firmly and took T'Pring's arm. The captain started to lead her away from their group for a chat, and Commander Huxley didn't want to be left out either, it seemed. She grabbed Gaila's arm in turn and dragged her off too. The green skinned woman shot Uhura a pleading look, as she was dragged away, but Uhura didn't budge from her spot and stayed with Pike, Haldane and Spock.

"Ah, don't worry about her, Spock," Pike assured him, "I'm sure they are just going to interrogate her a bit. You know, try and find out all the gossip about you two."

"Interrogate?" Spock replied. He was obviously trying the picture the conversation in his mind, since his eyes unfocused as he stared at some point in the distance.

"Oh, don't worry. No doubt she'll refuse to answer any personal questions anyway, just like you."

At that moment though Gaila came running back.

"Excuse me, I just need to borrow her for a moment," Gaila said and steered Uhura away from them.

"Hey! You can't leave me alone! I'm sorry, but if I have to sit through a conversation with T'Pring, I need some moral support," her Orion friend explained.

"What have I done to deserve this? Can't we both just leave now?" she whispered in return.

"No, I need to stick with Huxley if I want to stand a chance of her approving my wish to drop Vulcan in favour of Andorian even though we are already almost half way through this term," Gaila hissed back, "And you know how much I've come to hate Vulcan in the last few weeks."

And so Uhura found herself sat at a small round table with Captain Mathers, Commander Huxley, T'Pring and Gaila. Where was that emergency exit when you needed it most?

Mathers and Huxley were treating T'Pring like some long lost friend and were being very inquisitive. Had this been anyone but T'Pring Uhura would have felt intensely sorry for them, however it seemed to her that the Vulcan beauty simply deflected the all too private questions quite deftly.

"You see, this is why we struggle to understand your culture so much. You people just won't give anything away, will you?" Mathers said.

"Is this a human custom or ritual to request to know private information regarding other peoples' relationships?" T'Pring asked.

Although T'Pring's tone was emotionless as always, 'Do all Orions ...?', 'It is usual for humans ... ?' and variants thereof were her usual sarcastic put-down. Gaila and Uhura had become quite accustomed to it over the past three weeks.

And so Uhura wasn't sure if Huxley genuinely didn't realise that she was getting on T'Pring's nerves or if she thought T'Pring was asking a genuine question.

"Why of course it is, dear!" the commander exclaimed, "You are about to be married, to a friend of ours, so of course we have to know everything. These kind of chats are essential. You could say they are cultural."

Friends of Spock's, eh? How come he never mentions you two then? Uhura thought.

"Oh yes," Mathers added, "You must tell us all the details. Well, 'must' is a strong word, but it would be polite."

"If there are any questions you don't want to answer, don't," Uhura said bluntly. Superior officers or not, they were overstepping the line, she felt.

Huxley decided to change track, "What interests me most though, as a scientist, is the biological aspect of your marriage to Spock."

"I do not understand," T'Pring replied resolutely.

"Well, he is half-human after all. So he's not really even the same species as you are. I hear from Professor Lutz over in Xeno-biology that Spock is most likely genetically engineered. He reckons it is quite a miracle, even with the help of the best genetics laboratories on Vulcan, that his parents were able to have a child together at all," Huxley said and paused to drink some more of her wine.

"Are you not worried that your only hope of having children might be a similar procedure and that even then it might not work?" she continued.

T'Pring's expression did not change, but it was clear that Huxley had found an opening by feigning a bit of scientific interest.

"As your colleague deduced correctly, Spock is genetically engineered. The basis of his DNA is Vulcan, though. Human components were added to it and it was his parents wish that Spock would be able to conceive naturally with a Vulcan mate. We are not biologically incompatible," she replied.

Encouraged by the fact that Huxley had squeezed an answer out of her, Mathers jumped back into the conversation, "Well, I didn't think Spock would marry this young. You seem quite young yourself. Is it normal on Vulcan to marry at this age?"

"I am already his wife," T'Pring stated, "This coming ceremony is, as Captain Pike described correctly, a deepening of our bond."

"I am fascinated with the translation of these Vulcan words that you chose to use. When it was explained to me before I got the impression you were more of a 'betrothed' to him. But since Vulcans clearly don't set out to deceive anyone and are actually very careful in how they translate their own words into Standard I have to conclude that there is a good reason you use the word 'wife'," Huxley said and winked at T'Pring, who categorically ignored the gesture.

However Mathers immediately caught onto what Huxley was suggesting, "Oh really?" she said. "You know, I don't know why, maybe it is the fact that Spock can't lie or because he reminds me of a mythical Elf, but somehow I have this picture in my mind of all Vulcans, especially Spock though, as being innocent and cute."

Uhura wondered not for the first time how many glasses of wine the Captain and Commander had drunk between the two of them. A few too many she thought. Mathers and Huxley both took the fact that T'Pring didn't deny their claims as confirmation and seemed to be encouraged by it.

"He lost his virginity to you, didn't he? Oh, how romantic!" Huxley swooned.

Uhura felt her cheeks flush hot.

She moved over to T'Pring, "You don't have to stay, we can leave this conversation now," she hissed into T'Pring's ear. She didn't care if the others heard her or not. They both got up and they moved just out of earshot of the others, despite some protestations from Mathers.

"I do not understand the point of their questions," T'Pring said.

"They are just being nosey. As they said, they think it's all very romantic, especially because they always thought of Vulcans as well... emotionless blocks of ice."

As she spoke those words, she saw a sudden glint appear in T'Pring's eyes.

This was the closest she had seen to a display of emotion from the Vulcan beauty since they had first met.

"Romantic?" T'Pring asked rather loudly, turning back towards the group, one eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

"Yes of course! Young love and all that!" Huxley replied, beaming.

"Indeed," T'Pring said, "we were young. 14, both of us."

Mathers had been about to take yet another sip of her drink, but she froze, her mouth open. Huxley also looked shocked.

"But love? What does love have to do with sex?" T'Pring continued. She left the question and the very private information about herself and Spock hanging in the air as she turned on her heel and stormed off.

Oh no, Uhura thought, T'Pring had just lost her cool completely and snapped. Suddenly she found herself warming to the 'ice queen'. Up until now she had only felt sorry for Spock for being trapped in a marriage with a woman she believed he didn't love. Now she started to question T'Pring's motives. Were both of them victims of Vulcan culture? Of a bond that had been formed between them when they were both just 7 years old?

Damn, she thought, and rushed after T'Pring. She caught up with her just as she exited the double doors. The cool night air was a welcome relief.

"Are you ok?" Uhura asked softly, but T'Pring didn't reply. Now that she was outside she slowed her pace considerably, though.

Uhura followed her until the Vulcan woman finally sat down on a park bench and closed her eyes. It was not the exact same bench, but the irony of the situation didn't escape Uhura as she sat down next to her and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I just need some time to meditate and reflect," T'Pring said quietly.

"I'm here if you need anything," Uhura replied.

* * *

_I know, i know... it's been ages since this has been updated, but now that I've quit my old job and found a new one I finally have the time and energy to write again - yay! :-) And reviews really, really welcome! _


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